


The Soul's Song

by Galactic_Eden



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Angst and Fluff and Smut, Anxiety, Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, Blueberry is smarter than he lets on, Bravery, Demisexuality, Determination (Undertale), Drug Use, Ecto-Genitalia (Undertale), Ecto-Tongue (Undertale), Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Reader, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gaster is weird, Glitch Reset, Human/Monster Romance, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Insomnia, Inspired by Music, Integrity, Justice, Kindness, Meet the Family, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Is Important, Monsters, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Music, Night Terrors, Panromantic, Papyrus (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Persevererance, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader has a big family and is very happy, References to Depression, Reverse Harem, Sans (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Sexual Content, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Social Anxiety, Soul Bond, Souls, Stalking, Swearing, Switching Perspective, There Will Be Sin, There will be sex...eventually, There will be some personal headcannons, Underfell W. D. Gaster, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, Undertale Multiverse, Undertale Reset Issues, Undertale Saves and Resets, Will Add More Later, Will Add More When Applicable, acousticophilia, art student, depressing music, mild haphephobia, monster racism, music lyrics, patience - Freeform, reader identifies as female, reader is a loner, soul colors, soul music, split, student life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2019-11-14 19:27:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 48,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18058610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galactic_Eden/pseuds/Galactic_Eden
Summary: It has been a couple of years since monsters reached the surface, and it has taken time for them to spread out from Mt Ebbott.You've lived in the Northeast most of your life, said life is pretty much more than normal, to the point that it is pretty boring. Well, it won't be for long since you now have new neighbors that just happen to be monsters, skeletons to be exact.If it had been any other normal human, you probably would have never seen them once ever, but they don't seem to want to leave you alone.Oh, and you totally didn't think you'de have to close the blinds in the kitchen.





	1. New Neighbors

**Author's Note:**

> Music in the Chapter: Lost My Mind by Alice Kristiansen
> 
> 'Ello, so I've had this stuck in my head for a while and it came out pretty well on paper... sooo here it is.  
> Couple of notes about certain character choices, specifically the Swapfell/Fellswap brothers. So I had a hard time trying to piece together the differences since there are sooo many different headcannons, artstyles, and reditions that I've kind of decided to do a mish-mash. So there colorings are purple and have a mixed style between the KH! Swapfell and Swapfell Red. They don't really show up in the first chapter, but I thought I'd address it asap. Anyhoo, thank you for reading, hope you enjoy. >u<

It had been several years since the barrier had been broken and Monsters had been reintroduced into the world of the surface. The first few years had been super intense for their kind. The government had no clue how to proceed when it came to discussing their rights and citizenship. It was a hard fought battle but with the help of many monster allies, they gained true freedom. With the most important of battles won, they began to expand and move to different areas of the country, settling down to create a new sense of normalcy. Some tended to move to areas that reminded them of their homes in the Underground.

 

You lived in the Northeast, where when the winters were cold it was  **cold** and in the summer when it was hot it was  **hot** ! The running joke was that if you hated the weather, blink and it would change. For some reason, a lot of monsters found this area of the country very pleasant and chose to settle here. You had lived in the general area for pretty much all of your life, and you honestly loved it. There were always mountains and woods to explore, the country was always close to at least some small town. Yeah, people here could be thought of as rude and standoffish, but they were passionate, damn it.

 

You had moved into your current living situation about five to six months ago. New place, new town, in order to be closer to the college you were attending. After taking a couple of years off from school to join the workforce and try and find yourself, you had settled on getting an education for real this time, just so that you could make a better life for yourself.

 

You had been so ecstatic to find out that your college had been on the first in the area to accept both humans and monsters. Your bitch of a University you had previously attended was still fighting against integrating monsters trying to claim that it’d be against their religion or some kind of BS like that. You were so glad you had gotten out of there before things had gotten worse.

 

Things were better now for you, sure maybe you bordered on broke, but you kept afloat. Your apartment was amazing, your roommate’s brother owned the house as well as the house next door to it. You and your roommate had the whole second floor plus half of the third-floor attic (which your roommate had promptly turned into her smoking area.) Most of the time you would rarely see each other. She had way more friends in the area and tended to spend her time partying. This was cool with you since that gave you plenty of alone time and plenty of space to work on your artistic projects. For now, you could play music as loud as you wanted and belt out along with the lyrics because even the downstairs apartment was empty.

 

Though, that would soon change.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

It was a couple of weeks after the start of the second semester when you got texts from both your roommate and your landlord. You had to wait till your class was over before pulling your phone out to answer the messages.

 

 

**Nikky – hey girl, just a heads up, were getting new neighbors downstairs as well as the entire house next door. Apparently, all bachelors just like my bro promised!**

 

**You – haha, Woah there tiger, don't jump down their pants just yet… why not make some cookies first as a welcome present?**

 

**Nikky – AAAAH! Good idea, it gives us a good excuse to check them out!**

 

**You – Lol ok ok, want me to pick up anything at the store?**

 

 

You couldn’t help but laugh at your roommate's antics, you quickly checked your other message from your landlord.

 

 

**Landlord  – Hey y/n, just to let you know, you’re getting new neighbors moving in today. Also, the laundry machine will be fixed by this weekend.**

 

**You – Thanks for the heads-up.**

 

**Landlord – Oh, btw, don’t tell Nikky, but they’re all monsters. I wanted to get her back for last time so I didn’t tell her that detail.**

 

**You – OMG, you two need to stooooooop, but ok….hahaha**

 

 

You felt a thrill go down your spine, new Monster neighbors! You wonder what kind of monsters? Nikky would be pissed when she found out it wouldn’t be the cute ‘human’ males she could possibly mess around with. Not that your roommate was specist, she was just attracted to human men for companionship. It was still a very, very new thing for the country to allow human/monster relationships. It was probably just as hard as it has been getting marriage rights for the LGBTQ+ community. You were more than supportive of the movements, but when it came to you and your own personal relationships, well, that was normally a bust. You hadn’t really dated in several years, and you tended to keep to yourself after your last really bad breakup. You had some personal body issues and had pretty much accepted that you'd probably just stay alone. It was less complicated and your focus was on your education and work.

 

With the knowledge that your roommate would be making cookies for monsters, you switched up your ingredient choices and got some monster variants instead. With a smile on your face, you headed back home to see if you could be back before Nikky so you could see her expression when she found out the truth.

 

Turning onto your street, you saw two large moving vans parked out front of the two houses. Since your normal parking space was currently occupied, you parked across the street. As you got out and collected your groceries and school supplies, you kept peeking back at the moving vans to see if you could spot your monster neighbors. There were a couple of loud voices that you could hear coming from both houses. You cringed slightly, you really hoped they weren’t the kind of people that constantly argued. You last downstairs neighbors had been a couple that had constantly argued, which was annoying and anxiety-inducing.

 

Walking across the street, you quickly contemplated using the front or the back door. You didn’t want to get in the way, but using the front door was quicker than going around to the back. Sighing, you walked up the front porch steps, quickly checked the mail, then stepped through the front door… and was immediately almost run over by a fast-moving figure a bit shorter than yourself.

 

Yelping, you reached out to the wall for support, trying to not drop anything you were holding. You teetered for a second before a hand grabbed your arm to steady you. 

 

“you ok there, kid?”

 

Your head was swimming as you finally corrected yourself. Looking up to answer you finally got to see your new neighbors… two skeletons! You let a beat pass before quickly giving your response.

 

“Oh, I-i’m fine! No harm, no foul.”

 

You couldn’t help but be surprised, of all the monster types, skeletons weren’t the first type to have crossed your mind as being your new neighbors. The one currently holding your arm was very tall, probably around six foot five inches, or at least he would be if he stood up straight. He was wearing an orange hoodie and had an unlit cigarette in his mouth. He had a very lax attitude about him, but his grip on your arm let you know that he was strong.

 

A soft touch to your hand as someone took it in their own, caused you to look down at the other skeleton. This one was around five foot five inches, a couple inches shorter than yourself, was sporting a bright cyan-blue scarf and matching gloves, and was wearing what you could only describe as something akin to a cosplay battle armor/suit.

 

“HUMAN, I APOLOGIZE FOR RUNNING INTO YOU, ARE YOU SURE YOUR ALRIGHT? I, THE MAGNIFICENT S- BLUE, DO NOT WISH TO SEE YOU HURT!”

 

You smiled, ah, so this was one of the loud voice you heard. He looked so concerned about what had happened. You seriously couldn’t feel any kind of animosity towards this little ball of blue sunshine. Though at the same time, you were a tad uncomfortable that both of them were still holding onto you. You normally tried to avoid being touched by strangers it made you jittery, but after mentally counting to three, you tried to relieve their concerns.

 

“No, really, it’s not like it will be the last time I’ll be bumping into y'all. Since I live upstairs.”

 

The one in orange chuckled at your slight pun while the one holding your hand, Blue you think he had said his name was, looking at the other with a frown.

 

“WE HAVEN'T BEEN HERE FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR AND YOU HAVE ALREADY CORRUPTED OUR NEIGHBOR WITH YOUR INCESSANT PUNS.”

 

You raised an eye at the comment but shrugged as the two finally let you go.

 

“Um, aaaanyho, I’m y/n, one of your upstairs neighbors. I promise I’ll try and keep the noise down since most of the time it's just me, but fair warning, sometimes I’ll be up at weird times of the night due to insomnia and/or schoolwork and the floors tend to creak and groan like this house is haunted.”

 

“‘s alright. won’t hear me  _ groan’n _ ‘bout it. Names Stretch, by the way. this is my bro, Blue.”

 

You nod as you hold out a free hand to shake, which Stretch slowly accepts. Blue had let out an exasperated sigh at the pun his brother had made, but immediately took your hand to shake right after his brother let go.

 

“IT’S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU, MISS Y/N...”

 

Before anything else could be said, a new voice with a thick Brooklyn accent came yelling sharply from behind you.

 

‘ey, you two are take’n foreveh, what’s the holdup?”

 

You looked back around and found yourself staring at a couple more skeletons over by the moving vans. It was beginning to overwhelm you with just how many new people were around you. The one who had yelled looked like he solely shopped at places like Hot Topic and Spencers. He wore a black trimmed hoodie, red shirt, black shorts, red converse, and the pièce de résistance, a black, gold studded dog collar. He seemed, well… intimidating, since he was also sporting a row of sharply pointed teeth and one seemed to be replaced with a gold tooth. He made you feel very uncomfortable when he finally saw you and gave you a pointedly leering look, coupled with a wink. Turning your back on the scene outside, you cleared your throat.

 

“Well, I have groceries to put away, and y’all look like you’re needed. Have a good day.”

 

Stretch simply gave you a nod and strolled over to the others with his hands in his pockets, while Blue waved energetically as he walked backward away from you.

 

“GOODBYE, MISS Y/N. SEE YOU AGAIN SOON.”

 

You wave back and quickly make your way upstairs to your apartment. Once inside, you let out a long sigh. Wow, that was a lot for a simple run-in. You peeked through the blinds down at the street. How many of them were there total? You knew the other house had three different apartments, and Nikky had mentioned that the whole house had been rented. So you had no clue. Would they all be skeletons?

 

You saw Stretch standing by the van, his cigarette now lit. He didn’t seem too interested in helping the others at the moment. Blue and the creepy one…(he strangely looked like a red copy of Blue?) were working together with carrying out a well-worn couch. Both seemed to be sending comments over to Stretch, who simply shrugged and made some sort of comment back. Then he turned and looked up in your direction. You flinched in surprise and let go of the blinds. Ok… better just go and get all this stuff put away and change into more comfy clothes.

  
  


\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
  


You groaned as you stretch out on the couch. It was barely the start of the semester and you were already feeling the pressure. Three project classes, what were you thinking? You were already done with your history teacher. You wanted to throw your textbook against the wall, but you didn’t ‘cause that shit is expensive and rented. Rolling over onto your stomach and grabbed your phone and scrolled through your social media. Nothing of note, more hair tips from your sister, more memes from friends, and dog pics from your mom. Looking at the time… 12:27 am. Welp looks like Nikky wouldn’t be back tonight. Grinning, you turned on some music and went to the kitchen to start the cookies Nikky apparently wasn’t going to be here to make.

 

There was no noise coming from downstairs, so you assumed everyone had gone to bed. You didn’t have any classes tomorrow, and you didn't have work till that afternoon, so since you were still very much wide awake, you might as well do something constructive rather than just sit around watching some show. So baking would have to do.

 

Humming softly, you began measuring everything out and in general getting lost in your music. People normally were really surprised when they found out your music choices. You always come off as a happy, calm, and collected person who tended to be by yourself more than with others. You liked to term your music “that depressing emo shit that most people grew out of”, but depressing music just spoke to you more than peppy hip-hop or happy pop. You liked a good rock song talking about how numb you felt or a slow ballad describing the pain of loneliness. In a weird way, it helped you deal with your own depression better than anything else and you as sure as hell refused to turn to alcohol. You would be a mess if you did.

 

When one particular song started softly started playing through the kitchen, you couldn’t help but dance a little bit along with the music. 

  
  


_ You’re the sound of a song and I can’t get you out of my head _

 

_ You’re the calm in the storm  _

 

_ You’re the voice saying come back to bed _

  
  


Barefooted, on the balls of your feet you softly stepped from side to side, pointing them, and spun in a circle. 

  
  


_ Maybe I’m just too tired to keep running _

 

_ Maybe you're what I never saw coming _

  
  


You put the bowl you were mixing ingredients in down and let yourself just go along with the music. 

  
  


_ Am I in your head, half as often as your on my mind? _

 

_ If I don’t make sense, please forgive me I can’t sleep at night _

 

_ At least not alone, not anymore _

 

_ Not since I found what I never went looking for _

 

_ And now you’re in my head _

 

_ I must’ve lost my mind _

 

You didn’t notice the sound of a pop and a door opening downstairs.

 

• • • * • • •

 

Stretch waved off the others as he picked up the sleeping form of Blue and teleported to their new lodgings. The move hadn’t been too bad, but Edge and Black were getting pretty irritable with how late they had all stayed up to get everything put away. Both Classics could deal with their BS, Stretch sometimes felt the Fell’s presences to be a bit too much at times, which is why he had been more than willing to take the smaller apartment next door to the others. 

 

After tucking his brother in, that’s when he noticed the quiet music and creaking from the floor above. Well, you had warned that them that you had trouble sleeping at times and it was quiet enough. He flopped onto the couch and pulled out another cigarette and put it between his teeth.

 

He could just barely make out the music from where he was, but from what he could tell it sounded soft and mournful. The creaking of footsteps had picked up and seemed to have a rhythm to them. He was curious, you were a unique human. Most shied away at the sight of the skeletons, though you had been shocked by their sudden appearance, you had been more intrigued rather than frightened by them. He couldn’t help but admire that. So hopefully you would make for an interesting neighbor.

 

The creaking stopped and he heard a beeping sound and an oven door opening and closing before he drifted off to sleep on the couch.


	2. Puzzles and Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you were planning on ignoring your new neighbors like you normally would,  
> well, you in for a surprise since they don't seem to want to leave you alone...   
> or at least you are consistently bumping into them.  
> They've even gone out of their way to invite you over, and you don't really want to say no.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Music for this Chapter

You were up a bit before noon, you had a few hours before work, might as well get some artwork homework done. Gathering your supplies, you set yourself up in the living room. Humming lightly, you set about your task for the next few hours. Every once in a while, you would get snippets of conversation from the louder of your two downstairs neighbors. You thought you would find it annoying, but in the end, it was funny listening to the two brothers argue over such silly things. You heard something about a sock on the floor that hadn’t been picked up since yesterday. You giggled and continued with your work. 

 

Didn’t look like Nikky had come home yet, so the likelihood of her being gone for the weekend had gone up exponentially. She more than likely had met up with one of her beaus and therefore was too… well, let’s say distracted, to actually come home. But that also meant the inevitable had been put off for a day or two.

 

A ding sounded on your phone letting you know that you had an hour till you had to clock in for work. Sighing, you packed your stuff up and left your art supplies on the coffee table. After cleaning up, you switched into your work clothes and hoodie, grabbed your keys, and locked up your apartment. 

 

Before you could get to your car, you notice a couple more skeletons walking down the street, they seemed to be carrying grocery bags, so they definitely had been to the store. You smiled and waved when you saw Blue, who ecstatically waved back and rushed forward to greet you.  
  
“MISS Y/N, GOOD AFTERNOON TO YOU!”  
  
“Hey, Blue, did some shopping?”  
  
“YES INDEED, IT WAS A NICE SHORT WALK, WE’RE PRETTY LUCKY TO HAVE A STORE SO CLOSE!”  
  
You smiled but reflected that it was about a mile or two to walk to the store, even you didn’t feel like walking that far just to turn around and have to carry everything you bought back, especially during the winter. Looking over at the other two skeletons with Blue, you were certainly surprised to find that they were as tall, if not taller than Stretch. One had a bright smile like Blue, and was wearing something like... battle armor….cosplay armor? It was similar but distinctly different than the other’s armor. He also had matching boots, gloves, and a long red scarf. The last skeleton was extremely intimidating in his appearance, easily the tallest, you guessed over seven feet (in four-inch heeled boots, mind you), he kind of had a similar aesthetic to the Hot Topic skeleton you had seen yesterday... lots of black and red with sharp points and angles. He had an overwhelming air of authority in his scowl. He had a scar-like crack across his left eye socket. You mentally told yourself to not get on this guy's bad side.  
  
Blue noticing your look, turned back to the others.  
  
“MISS Y/N, THIS IS PAPYRUS AND EDGE, THEY LIVE IN THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR.”  
  
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Blue’s upstairs neighbor.”  
  
You held out a hand which the one called Papyrus, grabbed and eagerly shook with his free hand.  
  
“GREETINGS HUMAN! IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU.”  
  
(Good gracious, he was just as loud as Blue.)  
  
Edge did not shake your hand but seems to huff in annoyance. Yeesh, what did you ever do to him?  
  
“IF WE ARE DONE WITH THE FORMALITIES, WE HAVE FOOD WE MUST PUT AWAY BEFORE IT GOES BAD.”  
  
And with that, he stepped around the three of you and walked back into their house. You blinked and raised an eyebrow and starred over at the other two. Both Blue and Papyrus gave apologetic looks. You shrugged.  
  
“Well, I won’t keep y’all. I have to get to work anyway.”  
  
“I’M SORRY MISS Y/N, EDGE STILL DOESN’T TRUST HUMANS VERY MUCH. BUT I THINK HE WOULD LIKE YOU IF HE GAVE YOU A CHANCE.”  
  
You laugh lightly, putting a hand on Blue’s shoulder.  
  
“You don’t need to force him to like me, I can understand not liking humans. There are a lot of times I can’t stand them myself.”  
  
Blue looked like he wanted to say to say something, but then he caught sight of the logo on your hoodie, and the lights in his eyes literally turned to stars.  
  
“YOU WORK WITH PUZZLES?!?”  
  
Papyrus also seemed to get excited at this and beamed down at you.  
  
“HUMAN, ARE YOU A PUZZLE AFICIONADO AS WELL?”  
  
Oh, so they liked puzzles? Huh, interesting. You glanced down at the logo... ADVENTURE CLUB: Puzzle and Escape Room. I guess technically, yeah you worked with puzzles.  
  
“Yeah, we have a couple of different escape rooms, you should come. I can get 2 people in for free. If you like riddles and puzzles, you would definitely love these. But, um, not that I wouldn’t love to stay around and chat all day, but I gotta go, or I’ll be late.”  
  
“ALRIGHT MISS Y/N. YOU SHOULD COME OVER TONIGHT AND SHOW US YOUR SKILLS WITH PUZZLES!”  
  
Blue said with great enthusiasm. Papyrus nodded his approval as well.  
  
“YES INDEED, IT WOULD BE A GREAT PLEASURE TO GAIN INFORMATION FROM YOU REGARDING HUMAN PUZZLES. WE HAVE YET TO ENCOUNTER ANY HERE ON THE SURFACE THAT WE HAVEN'T ALREADY CONQUERED.”

 

You tried very, very hard not to cringe at the high volume of the two’s voices. That was a thing you apparently were going to have to get use too.

 

“Well, we’ll see, it normally depends on the bookings for today. If I get put on call for the evening, sure I’ll give y’alls offer a shot.”

 

You reached into your pocket and pulled out your phone and quickly added both Blue and Papyrus into your contacts. With that settled, you hopped into your car and were off to work, sending the two a final wave before turning off onto the next street.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Work was well, a pain. You ended up spending almost two hours answering phone calls or calling back others to answer questions, book rooms, or fix issues. With the weather declaring a snow storm on the way, people were panicking about the silliest things. There were several cancellations for the day, leaving you high and dry as far as bookings were concerned. You spent time cleaning and in general going through the list of tasks for the day. When 7:00 pm rolled around, you were given the go-ahead to switch to on call, but it was pretty clear with the snowstorm that no one was interested in being out and about today. Sighing, you trudged out to your car, bemoaning the loss of hours. You had so little as it was with most of your hours being focused on attending classes and working on homework.

 

Taking out your phone, you sent a text to Blue, letting him know you had been switched to on-call meaning you were heading home now. He eagerly responded letting you know that they were over at the other house and that he would save you a taco. You found it really sweet, it had been such a long, long time since you had actually socialized at another person’s house. You had become more and more of a loner nowadays. Only friends you had to speak of were online and overseas.

 

Pulling up outside your apartment, once again you didn’t see your roommates car in the driveway, so it was safe to bet that she wasn’t home or had come home then left again. 

 

Sighing, you got out of your car and headed to your apartment first. You wanted to at least clean up a bit before heading over. You peeled layers off as you made your way too your room, leaving a Calvin and Hobbes comical trail of clothing behind you. It didn’t take you long to get something together. Simple tank top with your most comfortable black hoodie, jeans, and black sneakers. You brushed out your hair, but you didn’t really have time to wash it, so you simply put it up into a messy bun. Quickly cleaning up, you then grabbed the plate of monster cookies you had baked and made your way over to your new neighbor's house.

 

The nerves didn’t hit you until you were standing on their front porch, hand frozen in mid-air as you went to knock on the door. What the hell were you doing? You normally were the most introverted recluse, and here you were going over to someone’s house to…do puzzles? You were seriously second-guessing yourself. Maybe you could text Blue and say you were sick or you could say you got a call into work and just go drive around for a bit. You war with yourself for a few seconds then took a deep breath and knocked before you could psych yourself out of it. 

 

The door almost immediately flew open causing you to jump slightly in surprise. Blue was practically bouncing up and down when he saw you standing in the door.

 

“MISS Y/N, YOU MADE IT!”

 

“Uh, hi Blue, um… here I made cookies, as a welcome gift.”

 

You held out the plate as you stepped inside. This house had a different layout to it. You couldn’t help but glance around as you were pulled along by Blue. It was nice, it still had that immaculate nature about it due to them all having just moved in. 

 

Blue immediately began chatting away, thanking you for the gift and continually ( pulling ) guiding you, till you were in the living room. You raised your eyebrows at the absolute vast amount of games that were stacked in there. It almost rivaled the amount that was at work.

 

“Oh, board games, you should’ve told me. I would have brought over the few I have.”

 

You smiled and waved at Papyrus, who was in the room setting up one of the games. He stood up when you entered the room and took your hand.

 

“MISS Y/N, IT IS A PLEASURE TO SEE THAT YOU HAVE ACCEPTED OUR INVITATION. I THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE ENSURED THAT WE WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT A SUFFICIENT SUPPLY OF ENTERTAINMENT. NYEH HEH HEH!”

 

Not to be outdone, Blue seemed to pipe in with his own contributions.

 

“YES, I MADE SURE THAT WE HAD PLENTY OF SNACKS AS WELL, SEE, THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE HAS MADE TACOS! MWEH HEH HEH.”

 

You looked down at the…“ tacos” that Blue had stated he had made. They were… well, they were unlike any other taco you had ever seen. Was that edible glitter? Why was it green glitter? Was that supposed to be a lettuce substitute? You had so many more questions. But, you didn’t want to refuse food from your hosts, so you smiled at both appreciatively. Maybe you could slip the taco without having to eat it or either of them noticing. 

 

“Gee, thanks, guys. Looks like it took some time to set this all up.”

 

You couldn’t help but see the similarities in their personalities. They definitely liked to show off, but it was genuinely just because they wanted you to have a good time. They were competitive, loud, and had a unique air of innocence about them. It was hard to not feel comfortable. You didn’t need to worry about the things you normally had to worry about when around other people. Honestly, if they had been human, there was little to no chance that you would have even given them the time of day. Past experiences made you very anxious around people. You did ok in school just because you sat in classes with like-minded people but in day-to-day life. There was no way you’d be in this situation. 

 

Blue and Papyrus’s faces both flushed with color. You wondered if it had something to do with magic since you had heard that’s what monsters were made of or something like that. Like, they didn’t have blood so, that’s the only explanation you could think of to explain the blushing. You didn’t want this to get awkward so you moved around the couch to the board game currently set up. You saw some absolute classics: Monopoly, Clue, Scrabble, Chess, Risk, Catan, anything from simple children’s games to advanced strategy games.

 

“I am a beast when it comes to Catan. My brother-in-law and sister use to play me and my younger brother weekly for the longest time. It’s one of my favorites.”

 

You made to sit down on the couch but shot back up quickly with a sharp squeal as you realized that you almost sat on something or someone. Turning around you saw another skeleton lying down on the couch. Looks like they had been asleep but you had accidentally awakened them.

 

“SANS, YOU LAZYBONES, YOU’VE FRIGHTENED OUR GUEST!”

 

Papyrus huffed in annoyance at the yawning figure on the couch.

 

“Oh...n-no Papyrus, it’s ok, it’s my fault, I should have looked I-”

 

“nah, it’s ok. sorry, you had to  _ ass _ -sume that no one would be asleep on this here couch. you really  _ squashed  _ my efforts to take a good nap.”

 

You look down at the shit-eating grin that Sans (apparently that’s what his name was) gave you as you stared absolutely mortified by the puns he used. Wow, so a jokester, eh? Well, two could play that game.

 

“Well, I’m sorry I had to  _ butt  _ in on your sleep schedule. I bet it was absolutely  _ sans _ ational.”

 

You're really proud of how quickly you had come up with those, usually you were not very quick on your feet. You were the kind of person that would have the perfect answer in like three days. But you felt like you needed to try and wipe that smug look he was giving you since you had pretty much sat down in his lap. 

 

Papyrus and Blue both groaned at the puns being thrown back and forth between the two of you. Blue seems quite affronted and Papyrus seemed excessively annoyed. San’s grin had gotten even wider.

 

“SANS, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM CORRUPTING OUR GUEST WITH YOUR USELESS PUNS!”

 

Papyrus threw his hands up into the air as he chastised the skeleton on the couch.

 

“IF YOU'RE GOING TO STAY HERE, CLASSIC, I WOULD ASK YOU TO KEEP YOUR PUNNERY TO YOURSELF. WE HAVE IMPORTANT PUZZLE SOLVING ACTIVITIES TO START.”

 

Blue puffed out his chest in annoyance. Sans only shrugged and shifted over on the couch, offering the vacated spot to you. You mumble a thank you and sat down on the edge of the couch, giving… Sans… (Classic?) enough space. You now felt completely awkward sitting there, your hands clenching your knees.  Eyes looking anywhere but at Sans sitting on the other side of the couch.

 

“S-so, do you wanna start with Catan?”

 

You played through several different games. Catan was a great warm up. Papyrus and Blue could be a bit gullible. You would always offer what sounded like great trades, but in the end, helped you out more than your opponents. Blue had some great luck with the dice, but spend half the game with the robber in his territory. Papyrus and you fought it out for the longest road, but in the end, you scored the most points. You would never admit it but the barrage of puns from Sans next to you helped to keep the other two from catching onto your quick rise to power over this make-believe continent. 

 

Next, you went on to some simpler games, ones you hadn’t played since you were a kid. For a time you just let yourself go and lost track of time. It was fun to just let go and not have to worry about the stresses of life.

 

At some point, you scooted off the couch and were sitting on the floor. You and Blue were in the middle of an intense chess game. Well, at least Blue was taking the game very seriously. You knew how to play, but were a very reactive player rather than a strategic player. Papyrus has gone off, saying something about food. You were so wrapped up in your game that you didn’t notice when someone sat directly behind you on the couch. You heard the couch shift, but you absently thought it was just Sans shifting in his sleep (since not to long ago he had fallen asleep again.) It wasn’t ‘till you felt a presence by your left ear, and a low drawling voice that sent shivers down your spine spoke up.

 

“You should move your bishop over and take his knight, it will set you up for a win.”

 

You twitched slightly and quickly turned your head to look at the newcomer. At first glance, you thought it was Stretch, but after a second you began to notice the differences. He was wearing a fur-trimmed purple hoodie, he had a white bandage eyepatch over his right eye socket and two of his prominent fangs were gold. He also had a collar around his neck, similar to the other skeleton you had seen the other day. He wasn’t really looking at the game board but was staring at you with his one good eye. It struck you as odd that it looked like he had bags under his eye socket like he hadn’t slept well.

 

However, the thought didn’t last that long as the intensity of the stare was causing you to blush profusely. Thankfully, Blue immediately piped up, coming to your aid.

 

“RUS, YOU ARE DISTRACTING OUR GUEST FROM OUR  TEST OF WITS AND STRATEGY. PLEASE ALLOW MISS Y/N TO MAKE HER OWN DECISIONS.”

 

Rus didn’t seem to hear at first, holding the stare for a second or two longer before slowly looking over at Blue. Straightening up, he shrugged, then slumped back into the couch. You barely recovered from the exchange between the two of you. Coughing lightly to hide the awkwardness you were feeling, you looked back at the board and saw that indeed, if you followed the suggestion give to you, you would have a fairly clear shot for the win. Other than that move, there really wasn’t another one that would put you in an advantageous position.  As you picked up the bishop to move it, you spoke in a small voice without turning around.

 

“Th-thanks for the tip… Rus was it? N-nice to meet you.”

 

“If you want more than just a tip, just come see me later.”

 

This was a very, very obvious double entendre response, but it still made you freeze up, now feeling very uncomfortable with the fact that he was sitting directly behind you. With you sitting on the floor, Rus towered over you, you guessed he probably rivaled Edge in height even in the heeled boots. You couldn’t really focus on the game any more, but shifted closer to it so that you wouldn’t accidentally lean back and bump up into Rus. Your distracted nature caused you to lose the game, not that it really mattered, but you wish you could have given Blue a better challenge.

 

You shrugged and smiled at Blue’s enthusiastic grin and laugh when he won.

 

“Hey Papyrus, looks like you’re challenging Blue since I lost!”

 

You called out in the direction that Papyrus had left earlier. You heard some clattering and wondered what he was actually up to? Blue was resetting the board, so you took this opportunity to check your phone. No missed messages or calls from work, good, but wow was it really that late?

 

“Holy shi...sugar, it’s almost 11. Well, I don’t know about you but I have to be up pretty early tomorrow so that I can get some homework done before work. Thanks for inviting me over, this was a lot of fun! Next time I should bring over the games that I have. If you like fast paced games, you'd really like what I’ve got.”

 

You barely heard Rus mumble something about already liking what you had from behind you, which he followed up with a chuckle. You had to force yourself not to turn around and glare at him. You were not use to anyone coming onto you at all. You pictured yourself as average, not drop dead gorgeous and not ugly, but somewhere in between. People said you had a friendly smile and were easy to approach, but beyond that, you never really got any attention, wanted or not. You really didn’t know what to say to Rus, so you continued to ignore him, maybe he’d get the hint to lay off.

 

“OH, IF IT’S THAT LATE, PLEASE LET ME AND MY BROTHER ESCORT YOU BACK TO YOUR APARTMENT.”

 

“Uh, ok.”

 

The gesture was sweet, but if it were not for the fact that he lived in the apartment below you, you would have politely declined. Well… also, you honestly didn’t know if you could say no to Blue. He seemed like he couldn’t hurt a fly and was a bit too naive for what you suspect Rus was interested in.

 

Getting up from your spot on the floor, you turned around and were surprised by the actual amount of individuals who had apparently been watching you and Blue. Sans and Rus were of course still on the couch, lounging against the back of the couch was Stretch, an unlit cigarette in his mouth, he waved as you noticed him. Leaning on the doorway to the kitchen hallway was, very surprisingly, Edge his arms folded and his perpetual scowl on his face. Sitting on the stairs was the creepy skeleton dude you had seen the other day. He had that same leering smile on his face that certainly made you uncomfortable. 

 

“Oh, um… hi everyone... didn’t know we had such a large audience.”

 

Edge huffed and looked away, the one dude on the stairs got up and casually sauntered down into the room. You quickly gave a head count. So seven skeletons? You were starting to think skeletons only came in two varieties or they were all weirdly related. The creepy skeleton was about to say something he was almost immediately interrupted. 

 

“MUTT, MUTT! WHERE ARE YOU? I ORDER YOU TO COME HERE AT ONCE!”

 

You started at the shrieking voice coming down the stairs. Rus stood up a second later and slowly began plodding towards the stairs.

 

“Coming, M’Lord.”

 

Before he could even set foot on the bottom stair, the pounding of feet came rushing down the stairs and another skeleton appeared.

 

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?”

 

You once again found yourself realizing just how similar all of these skeletons looked. This one looked a lot like Blue. Same sort of battle like armor but more angular and sharp. He had dark indigo colored scarf, boots and gloves. He was definitely slightly taller and slimmer than Blue but looked nowhere near as bubbly and kind. In a way, he kind of reminded you of Edge. One eye-socket had scratch marks running through it and his face seemed to have a perpetually petulant scowl on it. 

 

As he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he crossed his arms and looked up at Rus who stood slouching in front of him. You got the faint impression that if he had lips, the new one would be pouting.

 

“Apologies M’Lord, I was under the impression that you had retired for the night.”

 

The way they spoke to each other, well you felt even more awkward that you were just standing there, an unintentionally witness to this interaction. Turning your back, you pulled your phone out again and tried to ignore the one-sided argument between the two skeletons. So, eight in total. Where there any more that you hadn’t seen yet? You pulled up your employee communication app to see if anything had popped up without you hearing it. Nothing, thank goodness, you could go home and get to sleep. 

 

Sighing, you started to put your phone away when you felt way too many eyes looking at you. It also had gotten really, really quiet. Looking up, your anxiety spiked and you felt the urge to curl up into the fetal position and disappear.

 

“Um, did I miss something?”

 

You tried to not make things awkward. The newest skeleton was giving you a poignant glare while Rus had a half amused, half apologetic smirk on his face. Damn, you missed something in their conversation. It must have either been something about you or at least directed at you. Shifting from foot to foot you just wanted away from all the staring eyes.

 

“Uh…”

 

“I SAID WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT….”

 

The glaring one started but then was interrupted by the return of Papyrus.

 

“BLACK, THIS IS MISS Y/N. SHE IS OUR NEIGHBOR AND SHE IS VERY GOOD WITH PUZZLES AND GAMES!  BLUE AND I INVITED HER OVER, SO PLEASE REFRAIN FROM YOUR UNNECESSARY COMMENTARY. IT IS RUDE TO USE SUCH TERMINOLOGY REGARDING HER.”

 

Ok you definitely missed something, but you chose not to bring it up but straightened up and gave a slight wave. Black… another color name... weird… shifted from crossing his arms one way to the other way then gave you a once over. You frowned. What the hell was this dude’s problem? Was he just so far up his own ass that he was just a perpetual jerk? The irony of this unspoken statement almost caused you to smile but you forced your face to remain frowning. After a beat passed you turned to Blue.

 

“Well, uh, I need to get back. Y’all ready?”

 

You looked over at Stretch, who had simply just sat back and observed the exchange. He shrugged and pushed off the back of the couch.

 

“guess we’re heading back as well. see ya later.”

 

He gave a lazy wave to the rest of the room, then turned and plodded off towards the front door. You turned to follow but turned back at the last second to say with the brightest smile you could muster.

 

“Thanks for letting me hang around, hope to see y’all again.”

 

You were just being polite, there were a few you slightly hoped you’de never have to deal with again, but what you failed to notice as you turned and followed Blue and Stretch out the door, was the mixture of shocked and intrigued looks on the faces of the skeletons you had left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Ello peeps, thank y'all for reading. Happy to see people are interested. So this isn't going to be a normal upload time. Most times I plan on trying to update once every week or two. However, I just finished refining this chapter so I felt like getting it up. I'm not the best when it comes to dialogue so it's a bit rusty, also I'm terrible with puns. Hopefully, as I keep writing things will get better! Thank you for all the support. :3


	3. Snow Day!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How things begin to progress after your game night at the skeletons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in the Chapter...  
> • "Die for You" by Starset  
> • "Pain" by Three Days Grace

Closing your eyes, you let out a sigh as you stepped out into the chilled night air. You felt so much freer. Most of them seemed pretty nice, but to be honest, being around so many individuals at one time left you feeling claustrophobic. You did better in smaller or one on one sessions with people. Also, social situations left you feeling absolutely drained of all your energy, you needed a serious pick me up to recover from all the fun that you had. Tilting your head back you opened your eyes as you both saw and felt the snowflakes slowly drifting down to touch your face. It smelled like snow, which is something that hard to explain, but once you had smelled it was hard to not remember it. The only way to describe it was… heavy. Righting your head, you giggled at the look Blue was giving you.

 

“It’s going to snow pretty heavily tonight, can practically smell it. I’m gonna have to get up earlier than I’d planned so that I can clean off my car and get it heated up before work.”

 

You unconsciously stuffed your hands into your hoodie pockets, then glanced over to your car in the driveway.

 

“Have you guys ever experience the infamous North Eastern weather? Don’t worry if you don’t like it, just wait 2 seconds and it’ll change.”

 

You chuckled to yourself as you began the very, very short walk to your front door. 

 

“REALLY? ARE THE WEATHER PATTERNS HERE THAT ERRATIC?”

 

Blue stared wide-eyed at the sky as if he was waiting for it to change.

 

“It’s just an expression. I mean yesterday was really warm, warm enough to not really need to bundle up, practically a heat wave for this time of year. Yet, today it’s cold enough for it to be snowing. We’re just in a weird part of the country where we are situated between the mountains and the coast.”

 

“ya lived here long?” Stretch asked as he lit a cigarette.

 

You nodded and said, “Oh, yeah, grew up in the state north of here. It’s about a two-hour drive from here. We lived in a really small, really old town way out in the woods. I loved living in the country.”

 

You wrinkled your nose in protest to the smell of cigarette smoke, you weren’t a big fan of smoking. You remember seeing a special exhibit at a museum once about the human body, and it had actual donated human bodies. One part of the exhibit had shown what different types of cancer did to the body, and there had been a lung that had been so black and shriveled that you swore you would never smoke anything ever in your life. You knew that the skeleton had a way different anatomy than you (kinda?), but smoking still couldn’t be a good thing for him.

 

Blue had been staring at the sky continuously. It was so damn adorable how naive he acted. You reached over and tapped him on the shoulder.

 

“Hey, never seen snow before?”

 

“OH, WE MOST CERTAINLY HAVE, WHEN WE WERE UNDERGROUND, WE LIVED IN A TOWN CALLED SNOWDIN. AND IT WAS COVERED IN SNOW.”

 

You arched an eyebrow.

 

“So, it.. snowed underground?”

 

“SORT OF? DR UNDYNE BELIEVED IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE AMOUNTS OF MAGIC IN THE UNDERGROUND.”

 

“Hmm, ok?”

 

You continued over to the front porch of your home. Blue had followed you. Glancing at him out of the corner of your eye you noticed just how tired he looked. You pulled out your keys and unlocked the door.

 

“Hey, so thanks for the invite tonight. That was fun, I haven't really done anything like that since… well since I was a kid. I’m gonna head to bed. Looks like you should too, Blue. Night guys.”

 

Stretch made a lazy waving motion from where he had sat down on the steps of the porch, still smoking his cigarette. You turned to go up the stairs to your apartment when you felt two skeletal arms wrap around you from behind. You froze. Touch was a weird thing with you. You absolutely craved touch and affection, but only on your terms. Unknown and unsolicited touches left your skin crawling, it made your anxiety spike. You spun your head around and noted that it was Blue. Breath in...one...two. Breath out… one...two. You reached back and patted him on the shoulder. For once he seemed too sleepy to use his overly energetic voice.

 

“Thank you for being such a kind human, y/n. We greatly appreciate people who are like you.”

 

You flushed at this, what kinds of humans had they had to deal with? 

 

“Hey, don’t worry ‘bout it Blue. I’m just treating you like any normal person should.”

 

You relaxed slightly patting him on the shoulder again. It was probably just because he was tired, but he held on longer than a normal hug should have. You fidgeted, not knowing what to do. Thankfully you looked up to see Stretch coming to the rescue.

 

“alright, bro. let’s get you to bed, it is definitely way past your bedtime. let’s say goodnight to miss y/n now.”

 

Slowly Blue let go and nodded. You gave Stretch a look that you hoped said how thankful you were. He nodded and you turned and rushed up the stairs. You shut the upstairs door behind you as you got into your apartment. What the hell was that all about?

  
  


• • • * • • •

  
  


Rus sat by the window of his second story room. He had thankfully been able to placate the little lord and get him back upstairs to go to sleep. With all the fuss, he seriously needed a smoke. With the window open, the cold wind blew through, bringing small flakes of snow in that melted just as quickly as they settled. He sighed absentmindedly staring across, his mind far away.

 

It wasn’t until he saw movement in the windows of the house next door that he snapped out of his revery. He hadn’t really noticed, but he had an amazing view straight into the kitchen and dining area of the second-floor apartment, fascinating. You had piqued his interest immediately when he had seen you downstairs. It wasn’t every day that they had a human in their home. Most humans they had encountered on the surface were polite, but wary and distant or they were way too friendly, in the fake kind of way, like they were trying to gain brownie points for appearing to not be racist. You acted so genuinely. Is was also a plus that you were quite the looker.

 

He had tried bedding humans whenever he found someone willing enough to “try it out” with a monster, but honestly, those were simply mindless ruts. You, well, you were more intriguing. The way the pupils of your eyes expanded and contracted as you stared at him, the rosy blush that crept up your neck and onto your cheeks… well, you definitely were a unique. And there you were, standing in your kitchen, looking through the pantry and fridge for probably a snack, since you more than likely did not touch anything Blue or his more cheerful counterpart had made for you. You’ve gone back and forth between pantry and fridge twice now, a look of exasperation on your face. You seemed to sigh as you finally settled on the fridge, pulling out a carton of orange juice and simple just drank straight from the carton.

 

Rus chuckled, you certainly were entertaining. You pulled out your phone, the light from it lighting up your face. For a few moments, you stood there head turned down, a slight frown on your face. Once you seemed satisfied with whatever you’re done. You closed your eyes and began nodding along to some kind of beat. You soon were totally engrossed in whatever you were listening to, eyes mostly closed, swaying, twisting, and gesturing to whatever you were listening to. Apparently, this particular song was a slower one. Your movements and facial expressions appeared desperate as if you were pleading with someone. 

 

His cigarette long forgotten, Rus shifted his seat so that he could get a better view. You were entrancing to watch. What were you saying, what did it mean to you? He wanted to know so badly as you unknowingly put on this little show which only he got to see. You weren’t going for graceful or fluid, but for expression. Wait, where were you going? You walked through a doorway that led to what looked like a bathroom but you turned left down a hallway possibly? Then you disappeared.

He sat there for what felt like hours, but it only could have been a few seconds, before sighing and getting up from his chair by the window. Rubbing his eye socket with his hand, he shook his head. What the hell was he doing?

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

You woke up to the buzzing of your phone. You let out an annoyed moan and reached over and unplugged it from the nightstand. The clock on the front said 6:07 am. Uhg, whoever this was better have a good reason for waking you up thirty minutes before your alarm was going to. Unlocking your phone you saw it was a message over your work app. Great, now what? But you were pleasantly surprised when the message read that all games were either canceled or rebooked for a different day, so the gaming center would be closed for a snow day.

 

Sitting up you peeked through the blinds to a world devoid of color, the only thing you could see was white. Not a single thing wasn’t covered in a thick, fluffy layer of snow. It was so pretty, but honestly, for you, it meant that there was a driveway to shovel and a car to clean off...yay. Well, maybe not right away? You didn’t have anywhere to go right away? So maybe an extra hour of sleep wouldn’t be so bad. Switching out your alarm, you pulled your comforter up and wrapped yourself up nice and snuggly. You let out a sigh of complete contentment. Deep down you really were lazy and loved to sleep, yeah, maybe you took forever to fall asleep but once you were out, boy did you crave every minute of sleep.

 

Which unsurprisingly was once again interrupted not even two minutes after you had drifted off to sleep again. You contemplated throwing your phone across the room, but no, this shit cost good money and didn’t have any cracks in it so you decided against it. Rolling over onto your stomach, you stare bleary-eyed at the device in your hands. Oh, looks like a text message from your roommate.

 

**Nikky- hey stuck at a “friends” house, my bro is stuck at his. Could you at least clear off the end of the driveway pretty plz?! Thx bunches**

 

You groaned. Yeah sure Nikky, I’ll drag my comfortably warm butt out of bed into the world of white and cold. Sighing, you don’t respond with that but send a simple “k” then groan as you pull yourself out of bed.

 

It took you a few minutes to get ready. Food first you told yourself, then you bundled up. Well, not super bundled, you were used to the cold. Hell, after the first snow you had gone out and cleaned your car off in shorts. This time it was a long sleeve shirt and your favorite black hoodie, leggings than jeans, and just sneakers. You grabbed your headphones and your red-tinted sunglasses and went out into the snow. Thankfully it was sunny out, also, unfortunately, it was sunny out. It was melting the snow and blinding you all at the same time. You grabbed the shovel that was next to the front door and began clearing off the front porch steps and your portion of the sidewalk. You hummed quietly along with the music.

  
  


_ I will run alone tonight, without you by my side _

 

_ I guess you had a place you had to get to _

 

_ I know your eyes I know inside the walls you hide behind _

 

_ And I saw the truth inside the real you _

  
  


The sidewalk was the quickest and easiest to finish, but god, you were already sweating. You could feel the sun heating your black hoodie up and roasting you inside. You took a second to shimmy out of it and plopped it down on a chair on the front porch.

  
  


_ Because I know you're lost when you run away _

 

_ Into the same black holes and black mistakes _

 

_ Taking all my will just to run alone _

 

_ When are you coming home? _

  
  


You rolled your sleeves up, it wasn’t really that cold out, and began shoveling out behind your car. You thought you heard something, but you honestly were too focused on your music and shoveling to look up.

  
  


_ Even if the sky does fall, even if they take it all _

 

_ There’s no pain that I won’t go through  _

 

_ Even if I have to die for you _

 

_ And when all the fires burn, when everything is overturning _

 

_ There’s no thing that I won’t go through  _

 

_ Even if I have to die for you. _

  
  


You jumped as someone pulled one of your earbuds out of your ear. You turned and saw three skeletons staring at you. Towering above you with his red tattered scarf tucked tightly around his neck was Edge. He gave you a sour look with his arms folded across his chest. Next to him was Papyrus, dressed in jogging gear, his smile bright as always. Lastly was Black, who had your other earbud in his hand. He was giving you a sneering look like you had offended him in some unknown way.

 

You stiffened up as you saw the two more intimidating skeletons.

 

“Oh, hi sorry… did you say something?”

 

Black’s sneer became more pronounced as his gaze flicked back and forth between you and the earbud he was holding.

 

“HUMAN! I ASKED YOU FOR WHAT REASON YOU WERE CLEARING ALL THIS SNOW?”

 

Oh...kay… strange question.

 

“Um, I need to clear it so that it doesn’t freeze solid and make it nearly impossible to get in and out of the driveway. Especially with the snow melting with the sun out, it’ll freeze tonight when the sun goes down and the temp goes down.”

 

“WELL, YOU ARE BEING VERY INEFFICIENT IN YOUR EFFORTS.”

 

Edge said with a roll of his eyes-lights. Ok, rude, you ’ve been shoveling snow since you were big enough to help your dad with the driveway. You were about to say as much to him in about as sarcastic a tone you could use when you were cut off by Papyrus.

 

“MISS Y/N, MAY WE ASSIST YOU? THIS LOOKS LIKE IT WOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO COMPLETE.”

 

“I BELIEVE I HAVE A BETTER STRATEGY FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE SNOW THAN YOU, CLASSIC. WE SHALL FOLLOW MY PROTOCOL AND BE DONE MUCH QUICKER.”

 

Edge didn’t even give you a chance to accept the offer when he had taken the shovel from your hands and began pointing out to the other two how to tackle this honestly trivial task. Papyrus found the other shovel on the porch and began to shovel straight lines up and down the driveway. About the only thing you could get out was an, “Uh, ok…” then you turned to clear off your car.  Well, that was until you realized that Black still had a hold of your earphone. The song you had listening to had quickly ended and the new one was playing loud enough to be heard through the earbud.

  
  


_ Pain, without love _

 

_ Pain, I can’t get enough _

 

_ Pain, I like it rough _

 

_ ‘Cause I’d rather feel pain than nothing at all _

  
  


Your face blushed a severely crimson red as you quickly reached into your pocket and turned off the music. Black had an unreadable look on his face as you snatched your earbuds out of his hand and shuffled off to get the snow brush out of your car. Greeeeeeaaaaaat, now the little Brat Lord heard your...well… different taste in music.

 

You opened the back door of your car and shifted through the different items in the back. Your car was a mess, yes, you knew that, but it was all necessary stuff. A folding chair from last semester when you would set up your drawing supplies outside, some half-finished projects you didn’t feel like bringing up to get lost in your room. A painting canvas, a set of spare clothes, shoes, and...ok some fast food bags you could probably throw away. You’ll clean out your car when spring rolled around. Oh, there was the brush! You grabbed it and slid back out of the car. 

 

You closed the door and took a step towards the front. But as you did, you stepped in a particularly wet patch and started to slip. You planted your other foot to try and gain purchase but welp, you had to resign yourself to falling back on your ass and getting completely soaked. Until two boney arms grabbed you around the waist. Your breath got knocked out of you slightly, but otherwise, you were thankfully still dry. Looking down, you saw the blue-purple gloves wrapped around your waist. Well shit…

 

“HUMAN, YOU ARE INCREDIBLY CLUMSY! HOW YOU HAVE LIVED AS LONG AS YOU HAVE IS A MYSTERY TO ME.”

 

Black set you back on your feet. You turned and saw that his face had a dark purple tint to it. Was he blushing or was he affected by the cold?

 

“Thanks? I mean wet snow is pretty slippery, it's not the first time I’ve taken a nosedive onto the pavement. But thankfully no bruises on my backside this time.”

 

Ok, he definitely was blushing, since that purple tinge spread over his entire face. What the hell was he thinking? Inwardly shrugging, you turned and began brushing off your car.

 

“HUMAN, YOU NEED TO REMOVE YOUR VEHICLE FOR US TO COMPLETELY CLEAR THE SNOW AWAY.”

 

Edge barked at you, but thankfully it didn’t take long to brush off your car.

 

“Yeah sure, gimme a sec.”

 

Once done, Edge and Papyrus, stood at the edge of your driveway with satisfied looks on their faces, though Edge’s face was a bit smugger. Black seemed to have disappeared after keeping you from falling.

 

“SEE HUMAN? THIS IS THE LEVEL OF EFFICIENCY THAT THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE... EDGE EXPECTS OF YOU NEXT TIME, UNDERSTOOD?”

 

You nod as you pulled your car back into the driveway. He honestly wasn’t that bad of a guy, a bit high and mighty and rough around the edges (you inwardly smiled at the pun, Sans would have gotten a kick out of that one) but Edge probably had to be tough when he was in the Underground so you wouldn’t fault him for being uptight.

 

“Thank you all for the help, it’s really appreciated.”

 

You reach your hands out and took the shovels.

 

“I’ll just go put these away. Again thanks.”

 

You turned and headed off to the garage. You completely missed the red blush that crept up on the face of the rougher skeleton.

 

• • • * • • •

 

Black shuffled back into the house and stomped his way up to the second floor. He was certainly in a mood after conversing with the human. He hadn’t really thought much of you at first last night, thinking you were simply some human wench Mutt had picked up at some bar again. Beyond a cursory glance, you hadn't really paid him much attention, which aggravated him. But now that he knew you were their neighbor, he needed to make sure you were someone of interest. Then that smile you had flashed when you left had sent the rest of the room into a tizzy. He expected as much from Red and Mutt but even the Edge and the Classics were affected. No one knew what to say after you left.

 

Now he had been able to observe you better this morning after he and Edge had gone on a patrol of the neighborhood. They had run into Papyrus at the end of his morning jog and were all heading back to their residence when they had seen you out clearing snow. You stopped and fiddled with your clothes for a moment, then stripped off the hoodie, a bit of paler skin showing around your midriff. It looked so smooth and unblemished. He had had to snap himself out of his thoughts as they made their final approach.

 

You were oblivious to the world around you. If an attack were to happen, you would surely have died. You were...were...why were you removing the snow?

 

He asked you as much, but when you didn’t respond, he stomped his way over and pulled out those confounded contraptions out of your ear. You needed to learn some respect and pay attention to him.

 

Somehow they had been roped by Papyrus into helping you clear the snow. Black had scoffed, but listened to Edge’s plan, pointing out how it could be done more efficiently. You started to walk away, but Black held onto your earphone, keeping you from getting far. It wasn’t the same as a collar and leash, but it certainly held you in place. Then that song had played… stars above… that song. He didn’t get to hear the entire thing but those four lines wouldn’t get out of his head.

 

He slammed open his brother’s door, not knocking for once and yelled to wake his brother up. 

 

“MUTT, MUTT GET UP, I HAVE AN ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU. GET UP YOU LAZY BONES!!!”

 

He kicked at the bed, to accent his urgency, then began to pace back and forth in the room. His brother let out a grunt then sat up in his bed. He blinked his one good eye as he watched Black pace back and forth for a second or two.

 

“yes, M’Lord, what would you have me do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okiiii dokiii! We're getting close the catching up to where I've written so far. Ch 4 is being edited and refined, Ch 5 had to be cut and rewritten. Funny enough I have the hardest time writing for Red, I'm not quite sure which of his characteristics I want to hone in on. But, no matter, I'll figure it out at some point. :3


	4. The Art of Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your roommate finally shows up and gets to meet your downstairs neighbors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in this Chapter: "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton

The rest of the weekend went by pretty uneventfully. Sunday was game day with your overseas friends, Vampire the Requiem. You had been playing together for almost three years now and the stories y’all had created together were so much fun. You finished your homework and projects and early Monday morning you packed your school bags into your car and headed off for the day. 

 

You saw Blue and Papyrus out on a run and waved as you passed by. They both enthusiastically waved back causing you to smile. 

 

Classes were pretty uneventful, two hours in Basic Photography, lunch, and then two hours in Drawing 2. You had a hard time washing the charcoal off of your hands since someone forgot to bring in the soap for the drawing lab’s sink. You went home, crashed in your room, fiddled about on social media, then went to bed early. Tuesday, got up earlier to get to you Art History class, tried to stay awake as you listened to your teacher explain history you sort of already knew. Hung around after class in one of the lounges, until it was time for your 3D Art Concept 2 class. Then home again, home again jiggity jig. 

 

First thing you noticed when you got back, was that Nikky had finally back from her weekend fling.

 

“Hey roomie, have a good weekend?”

 

Nikky was a large and in charge kinda gal. All curves and swerves, her multiple beau's couldn’t get enough of her.

 

“Eyyyyy, Nikky… everything was gooood, have you met the new neighbors yet?”

 

You gave your roommate a mischievous grin. You knew the possibility was high since it felt like you had barely gone a day without bumping into one or more of them.

 

“No, I haven't yet. Tell me all about them, any good looking dudes?”

 

Your smile widened.

 

“Oh, they’re mostly either really super tall and skinny or a bit shorter than me and…. big boned. They’re all pretty pale, and dress pretty differently… mhm yep… no  _ bones _ about it.”

 

Nikky narrowed her eyes.

 

“I detect a hint of sarcasm…hhhhmmmm…ok cough it up, what’s different about them?”

 

“Awwww, Nik, honestly… you wound me. I thought it was obviously all sarcasm. Hahaha… but anyway all seriousness, those descriptions pretty accurate. Except that their nothing but bones, like that’s it, bones and magic. Monsters, Nik.”

 

You gave her a brief rundown, telling her that they were all pretty nice and that they’d helped out with the driveway. 

 

Nikky slapped a hand to her forehead.

 

“Jeezus, cockblocked by my own brother. Damn it, I’m gonna have to think of a good one to get back at him for this. Anyway, they sound pretty cool, as long as they don’t mind the smell of weed and the haunted floorboards.”

 

You shrugged.

 

“Stretch smokes, so I don’t think he will object much.”

 

You wandered over to the couch and flopped down to see Lucy, your roommate’s German Shepherd, Labrador mix. She was the sweetest, most laziest GS mix you’d ever met, and you both loved her all the same.

 

At that moment, you heard a buzz in your pocket. There was a text from Blue. His concerned text asked about the random human he had seen going up to your apartment and inquired as to whether you need assistance getting them to leave. (What a sweetheart.) You quickly explained the situation, informing him that who he saw was Nikky and that she was your roommate and the landlord’s sister. This seemed to placate Blue’s fears, and he asked if he could come up and say hello to his other neighbor whom he hadn’t met yet. 

 

“Hey, Nikky, Blue from downstairs wants to come up and say hi. You ok with that?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, as long as they don’t mind Lucy, I’m cool with that.”

 

“Cool.”

 

**You — “sure Blue, come on up… oh, you ok with dogs? Not allergic or anything? Lucy is the best.”**

 

The only response you got was the sound of hurried footsteps on the stairs and a generous amount of knocking on the front door. Giving your roommate a Cheshire grin, you went and opened it up, to immediately find yourself being hugged by Blue. Stretch, who was right behind his brother, gave a soft chuckle.

 

“Y/N! I MISSED YOU!”

 

“Oof, uh hey Blue, long time no see?”

 

You quickly freed one of your arms from his grip and patted him on the head. He looked up at you with star shapes in his eyes. (Wow, that was pretty cool. Did they change shape with his emotions?) You smiled and looked over to Stretch.

 

“Hey, neighbor didn’t expect you here as well.”

 

“eh, Blue insisted on my coming up and saying hello as well.”

 

“Well, come on in. It’s basically the same layout as downstairs. Just try not to sit on Lucy if you're on the couch.”

 

You gently pried yourself from Blue’s hug and looked over to where your roommate was staring at you with an interested and mischievous look on her face. Welp, guess you would have to explain everything later.

 

“So this is my roommate, Nikky, she is pretty much the best. And over there on the couch that is Lucy or LuLu, world’s greatest couch dog. Nikky, this is the Magnificent Blue and Stretch, our downstairs neighbors.”

 

After an exchange of pleasantries, Stretch quickly spotted the weed Nikky had on her and they were both off to the attic to smoke. Your roommate was always up for a smoking buddy. You wrinkled your nose and shrugged.

 

“Guess me and Blue will be down here, don’t over do it you two.”

 

Stretch gave a noncommittal shrug and Nikky just stuck out her tongue at you and soon it was just you and Blue left in your apartment. He had sat down on the couch and was petting Lucy very gently. The dog simply huffed and the tip of her tail wagged lazily, but those reactions were enough to elicit a squeal of delight Blue.

 

“Y/N, I THINK SHE LIKES ME.”

 

You smiled and plopped down next to Blue.

 

“Aw, Blue, it’s hard for anyone not to like you.”

 

Blue’s face flushed with a light blue blush. Man, these skeletons sure have a hard time hiding their emotions, or maybe they were not use to compliments. You sure knew that you were always left stuttering about what to say when you got complimented.

 

Reaching over to the coffee table, you searched through your bag and grabbed your sketchbook and flipped to the page you had started working on earlier. Blue turned and watched for a while, surprisingly quiet. It was a simple pencil sketch, an early drawing meant to later be translated into a bigger canvas, so it was very rough and unrefined.

 

You kept stopping and holding it out at arm’s length to get a better grasp of the composition. Sighing in frustration, you turned to your captive audience.

 

“What’cha think? I feel like it’s missing something, it’s missing like… I don’t know. It feels so flat right now. Maybe I should start drawing it on the bigger canvas now and figure it out as I go.”

 

“WOWZERS, Y/N! I THINK IT IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD DRAW LIKE THAT? DO YOU DRAW COMICS? DO YOU MAKE ANIMES?”

 

Blue quickly had a slew of questions he bombarded you with. He liked to draw, but he said you were way better than him, that you should draw him and at that, he got up and struck a pose. You giggled.

 

“You sure you can hold that pose? Most models have to sit for at least two-hour sessions.”

 

“I MOST CERTAINLY CAN! I AM UP FOR ANY CHALLENGE!”

 

“Well ok then, Mr. Magnificent.”

 

You flipped to the next page in your sketchbook and began quickly sketching to get in the general shapes. You worked as quickly as you could, checking and rechecking your measurements. Blue kept his word and was able to hold his pose for quite a while. After getting in most of the basics, you told him he could stop posing. He quickly scrambled to the seat next to you and watched as you started working on the details.

 

“Can I see your hand for a second, your bone structure is very different from humans, I want to make sure I’m doing this right.”

 

“O-OK…”

 

Blue stuttered, he never stutters. You peek at him curiously out of the corners of your eyes as he takes off a glove and holds out a hand for you to study. He looks really nervous. That was...weird, it’s not like he hadn't touched you before. You then look at his skeletal hand. It was so similar but so different at the same time. There seemed to be extra bones in the palm region, mimicking where the skin on your hand would be. There were also bumps and cracks in them, signs and wear and tear, similar to callouses. It was weird to see bones that could move without ligaments and musculature. You held your own hand next to it and flexed it to compare.

 

“Thanks, Blue, I think I get it now.”

 

You let go of his hand and started to pick up your pencil, but Blue grabs your hand in his own and pulls it towards him and studies it himself. His face has a look of contemplation and awe as he runs a finger along the lines of your hand, down each finger as he flips it over and curls his hand over top of it, intertwining his boney fingers with yours. The blush on his face has intensified a hundred times over. 

 

It’s then you realize that you have kind of underestimated Blue. He may give off this childlike demeanor, but for some reason right now he seemed, you don’t know… older? Like the naivety was a coping mechanism or a wall he put up.

 

“Blue…?”

 

Your mouth felt dry, he wasn’t saying anything, this was so unlike Blue. A moment passes, then another, and another. Then footsteps could be heard coming down the attic stairs and both you and Blue snap out of it. You turn and look at the baked figure of Stretch coming down from his smoke as Blue quickly slips his glove back on. The taller skeleton seemed like he was in a pretty good mood as he made his way over to the back of the couch and leans over the two of you.

 

“pretty good drawing you got there. wanna do me next?”

 

He slipped his arms around your shoulders and you tensed up slightly, but also, god damn... that soft husky and raspy voice in your ear sent shivers straight to your core. Aaaaaaand then the smell of weed hit and killed your lady-boner.

 

“Uhg, maybe when you don’t smell like pot, my dude. Sorry, but that smell gives me a headache.”

 

You push yourself out from under Stretch’s grasp. (You swore you heard a small whine come from him.) You reach over and pack up your art supplies, folding everything into a neat pile.

 

“aw, c'mon, hun. don’t be like that.”

 

“Your high, Stretch. Why don’t you go take a nap?”

 

“that sounds like a freaking fantastic idea.”

 

Blue got up from the couch and started to make his way around to help his brother, when Stretch took the idea of a nap, and took it for ‘nap here’ instead. Hefting himself over the back of the couch, he took Blue’s vacated spot and had his head resting in your lap. The second he was comfortable, he was out.

 

Your eyes went wide immediately, as you looked to Blue for an explanation. The blue skeleton huffed in annoyance and moved back over to the couch and tried to drag and pull his brother off of you.

 

“GET UP LAZYBONES! YOU DON’T NEED TO BE SLEEPING ON Y/N!”

 

Stretch groaned and slid further into your lap, wrapping his arms around your waist. A low growl rumbled in his throat (?), but either way that shiver ran down your spine and settled into your core. It was such a possessive sound and for some reason that really got you. However, you barely knew these two, why were they so informal with you? You were only like this with close family and friends you had known for years and were super comfortable with. Was this a cultural difference, were monsters just much more comfortable after meeting new people? Or...or was there more to this than met the eye and you were just dumb and not seeing the bigger picture?

 

Blue finally got frustrated enough to leave his brother alone and sat on the coffee table with his arms folded across his chest. Once again he had this look on his face that you couldn’t quite read. You reached a hand over and patted Blue on the shoulder.

 

“Hey, it's ok. Thanks for trying. Guess I make a pretty good pillow.”

 

You let out a half-hearted chuckle. You really had no idea how you ended up in this situation, but you had to say… you, well... you didn’t hate it. You spent some time idly chatting with Blue, learning what you could about him and what he thought of the surface. This seemed to break him out of his mood and he was more than happy to tell you about his hobbies and interests. He really liked making tacos, he wanted to become strong and at one point he wanted to be a member of the royal guard, and he really liked motorcycles. Nikky seemed to stay upstairs for pretty much the entire time, so once again, in a way, you were alone with Blue.

 

While you chatted, at some point you idly began stroking Stretch’s skull. You really didn’t even think about it, it was like having a cat in your lap, you kinda did it cause it was there, and boy was Stretch quite the snuggler. It honestly felt like he was purring, but you weren’t really paying attention to that while you chatted with Blue.

 

After some time passed, Blue said he needed to go make dinner, and that he would come to get Stretch when it was ready and that you were more than welcome to join them.

 

• • • * • • •

 

Stretch was always in favor of a nap, but most of the time he really had a hard time sleeping. Often plagued by unsettling dreams and nightmares, he would wake up in a cold sweat, the memories of the past crawling up his spine. Then he would smoke to try and calm himself down. He hadn’t always been a smoker, but for the longest time, it had been one of the few ways he had been able to calm down, that and his addiction to honey.

 

When he had seen your roommates weed, he certainly was in the mood to relax and try and get his thoughts to fuck off. Nikky was pretty cool and was definitely not interesting in him as anything but a smoking buddy. Once he felt good and baked, wandered back downstairs to check on his brother, and that was the last thing he remembered.

 

As he started to wake up, he realized just how nice and peaceful his nap had been. No terrors, no cold sweat, just dreamless sleep. 

 

Maybe he was still a bit spaced out, but the first sense that he could register was smell and all he could currently smell was the scent of almonds and apples. It reminded him of something, but his mind couldn’t place it right away. Next was his hearing, a soft voice was singing something, it was coming from above him. 

  
  


_ Would you know my name _

 

_ If I saw you in Heaven? _

 

_ Would it be the same _

 

_ If I saw you in Heaven? _

  
  


It sounded close but so far away in the fog of his mind.

  
  


_ I must be strong _

 

_ And carry on _

 

_ ‘Cause I know, I don’t belong _

 

_ Here in Heaven  _

  
  


It was then the rest of his senses caught up. He was half resting in someone’s lap his arms wrapped around their torso and there was a hand stroking his skull.

 

_ ~ “what the hell?” ~ _

 

Was the first thought that passed through his head as he realized the situation. This most certainly wasn’t Blue, as awesome as his bro was, he’d not had much luck with helping him repel the nightmares. However, he was starting to piece together the fragments of his thoughts as to who he was curled up against.

  
  


_ Would you hold my hand _

 

_ If I saw you in Heaven? _

 

_ Would you help me stand _

 

_ If I saw you in Heaven? _

  
  


Opening his eyes and looking up, he confirmed his suspicions as he looked up into your face. You had stopped singing and were looking down at him due to his movement.

 

“Well, good evening sleepyhead, have a good nap?”

 

Oh stars, what the hell happened to him? Sitting up quickly he looked around for Blue, he wasn’t anywhere he could see in the vicinity. 

 

Sensing his thoughts, you eased his fears.

 

“Blue went downstairs to make dinner, he said he’ll be back up when it’s done. That was about thirty minutes ago.”

 

Stretch let out a sigh of relief and shifted so that his feet were on the floor and he was sitting next to you rather than on you. 

 

“so how long was I out?”

 

“Hmmm, roughly about two hours? Though I do have to say, when I said go take a nap, I didn’t expect you to take one on top of me. How about taking me to dinner first next time, eh?”

 

Stretch kept facing forward hoping to hide his embarrassment about the whole situation. Ok, so no waking up screaming in terror, a plus, negative… you barely knew each other and he had apparently thrown himself into your lap. What the hell was he doing?

 

“Stretch? Hey...sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

 

Why were you apologizing? It was his fault really.

 

“nah, kiddo… just…. shit, don’t worry ‘bout it. h-how bout we head downstairs and pretend none of this happened, k?”

 

You looked like you wanted to say more, but you stopped yourself, and Stretch watched as a creeping blush started up your neck. 

 

He stood up quickly, stuffing his hands into his pockets and sinking as deep into his hoodie as he could. After a quick second he turned and offered you a hand to help you up. He was a bit surprised when you took it almost too quickly. Once you stood up, you held on a bit longer than normal and you gave him probably one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen.

 

“so, how ‘bout that dinner, hun?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, alright, alright, so this is the last full chapter that I had done ahead of time. Chapter 5 is being rewritten due to me haaaaating it, so it will probably drop in about two weeks rather than one. Other than that, I really liked writing this chapter, I think it is pretty obvious who my fav skeletons are >u<... but I promise to spread the love around. Anyhooo thank y'all for the love and wonderful comments. See ya next time. :3


	5. Flushed Touches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What you think is going to be a quiet evening turns out to be the complete opposite of peaceful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music if this Chapter: "World so Cold" by Three Days Grace

Finally, the weekend rolled around and classes went by all well and good. You had one more week of classes and then you had Spring Break, and you absolutely couldn’t wait for a little R and R. Your sculpture project was coming along nicely, your instructor said it had great potential, so you were glad this wasn’t becoming as frustrating as the first project had been. Still by the time you got home you were creatively spent and seriously just wanted to curl up in your bed with some Doritos and watch YouTube gaming videos.

 

You practically dragged yourself upstairs to your apartment, dropping your bags off in your room and set your sculpture materials off on the table. You sat down and rested your head on the edge of the table, letting out an exaggerated sigh. Across from you, Nikky let out a chuckle.

 

“That bad, huh?”

 

“Naahhhhhhh, just tired. How was your day?”

 

Nikky regaled you on her day of leisure, how absolutely nothing happened and that she would probably be leaving early tonight to go visit her “friend”.

 

“Ahhhh, am I to assume that there won’t be much talking at this sleepover?”

 

You give her a wink.

 

“Only talking he should be doing is the dirty kind.”

 

“Hahaaaa, ok okayyyyyyy tmi tmi!”

 

You sat up and began waving your hands in front of you, both of you laughed. At that moment she got a text, and from the look on her face, you knew she wouldn’t be hanging around much longer.

 

“You taking Lucy with you again?”

 

“Yeah, she looooves the pancakes he makes for her.”

 

“Ok ok, if you need anything I should be here all night and most of tomorrow after work, as per usual.”

 

Nikky got up and gave a wave of her hand.

 

“Sure thing.”

 

“Be good, or be good at it.”

 

You say as you stuck out your tongue at her. Leaving you both laughing. In a few minutes, you were left alone in your apartment, the sounds of a car driving away just attesting to the free reign you had of your dwelling.

 

Stretching and yawning, you opened your phone and flipped through your playlists, picking something to play in the background while you worked on homework. Humming, you pulled out dust mask and your carving tools so you could continue working on your sculpture.

 

Scratching and carving away, you let yourself get lost in your work. It was starting to take shape nicely, though maybe you needed to make another cast before completely commiting to this design.

 

Your phone dinged. Ok, who could that be? You pulled it from across the table and checked the screen.

  
  


**Jace— Hello, I hope you remembered that today we were all expected to join our illustrious employer on an outing for “Team Building” exercises. In other words, girl, you are late to the “** **_party_ ** **”.**

  
  


You groaned. Noooooo, you had been hoping that was an optional thing. As nice as your boss was, she was pretty clueless as to what was appropriate for an outing. She was a bit…. airheaded, to put it nicely.

  
  


**You— seriously? I don’t do clubs… I don’t do parties… doesn’t she know that like 75% of the people who work for her are introverted anti-socialites?**

 

**Jace— Not I, you know that I enjoy these outings for the sole sake of observation and blackmail. Especially when the higher-ups go a bit too far.**

  
  


You sighed, Jace was always looking for a reason to hold something over your boss’s head. To be honest it work out pretty well, it had gotten the employees better break options and a secretary hired. Though you had no idea how he still had a job.

  
  


**You— great, so just how late am I and what are the deets? ‘Cus you def know I did not pay attention to that announcement.**

  
  


Jace sent a devil smile emoji with the simple directions to the club. You flipped through your phone, silencing your music and got up and dragged yourself to your room to change. You spent a bit too long staring at your closet trying to figure out what the hell to wear. You most assuredly didn’t have clubbing clothes. You didn’t have any little black dresses or anything with way too many straps. You grabbed you ripped jeans, a simple white lace tank top, and a long red duster cardigan. Yeah, it was pretty simple, but hopefully it didn’t have any “come-hither” vibes. Honestly, looking in the mirror, all you saw was “soccer-mom trying too hard”.

 

Putting on a minimal amount of makeup, you made your way out to your car. The closer you got to the club, the more your anxiety started to spike. Why oh why was this a thing? The last work required event had been more fun. Apple picking in the fall with hayrides and corn mazes. That had been simple and it had been easy to slip away earlier.

 

The second you walked into the club there was instant regret. It was so loud, between the constant hum of voices, the occasional hoot and hollering, to the thumping music, you knew you’re be walking out with a headache.

  
  


_ Thump thump thump thump _

  
  


For being such a dark building, there were far too many bright lights, especially the strobes. Where the heck were your coworkers?

  
  


_ Thump thump thump thump _

  
  


This was so not your scene, with each beat of the music you could feel it radiating off your head. You were lost, you felt like you couldn’t breathe, all you could smell was sweaty body odor, bad perfume, and alcohol.

  
  


_ Thump thump thump thump _

  
  


A hand grabbed your wrist as you tried to push your way through the crowd. You jerked towards the person. Oh thank god it was Jace.

 

“Oh my god, you have no idea how happy I am to see you!”

 

You said in relief. He smiled and pointed to his ears, subtly letting you know he couldn’t hear a goddamn word you said. He pulled you through the crowd towards the sitting area near the bar. It was slightly quieter in this area, due to a partial wall blocking the dj station.

 

Jace brought you over to a table where your other coworkers Anna and Sike. They both gave you a small wave and a hello as you sat down. You practically crumpled once you sat down your arms feeling rather shaky. When you had composed yourself you sat up and gave a half-hearted smile to everyone.

 

Jace was looking like his normal refined self, in an all black faux-leather suit, platinum blond hair perfectly quaffed, looking as much like the tall, skinny Vampire you imagined him to secretly be. Anna had a simple olive colored knit, off the shoulder dress and looked just as uncomfortable as you felt. She kept fiddling with something, either straightening her glasses, returning a strand of her red hair behind her ear, or pulling at the hem of her dress. Sike looked like they hadn’t seen the need to dress up, as they simply had on a pair of loose fitting jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie with the company logo on it. Their long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. You always liked Sike’s hair, it always complimented their Native American skin tone very nicely.

 

“H-hey Y/N, looks like you finally made it. Not like anything has really happened. We’ve mostly been chilling here in the corner. We lost Leslie a while ago. Everyone else is either over drinking, our in the floor, or… ya know didn’t show up.”

 

Anna gave a strained smile, pulling and twisting a strand of her hair. You and she got along pretty well, you both were a bit reclusive, but in general, she was much more skittish. 

 

“Leslie most likely got herself completely plastered at the bar and is out on the dance floor. You’d think she was the twenty-whatever rather than the one who is supposed to be ‘the adult’.”

 

Sike let out a chuckle as they sat back and stuffed their hands into their pockets.

 

“Well, I would say that is well enough for us. As long as she doesn’t come and drag one or all of us out onto the dance floor, we could possibly barricade ourselves over here and have a more educated and eloquent conversation than with the rest of the rabble here.”

 

You raised an eyebrow at Jace’s overly wordy remark.

 

“Jace, my friend, we all know you would more than enjoy stalking some beautiful and very drunk twink and wooing him with your melodic exposition.” 

 

Jace made a mock motion of surprised hurt.

 

“Well, I’d never… not take the opportunity to find myself a new conquest.”

 

At that, you all had a laugh. They were probably the closest people in the area you could call friends, though you rarely saw each other outside of work. It was one of those circumstantial friendships that you were happy to keep the way it was.

 

You all spent some time chatting idly, Jace excused himself about twenty minutes later, and you all had a good time narrating his conquests and taking bets on what actually was being said.

 

“Dude, he is totally going to take him home and drain him of his blood, as I’ve never seen him more in his Vampiric element. Didn’t you see how the crowd practically parted as he went after that cat dude?”

 

You giggled over your drink.

 

“Y/N, please, he’s probably just looking for a new muse, he’ll drain their artistic soul to fuel his new album.”

 

Sike pointed out with a sly grin on their face. You were about to sling a witty riposte back at your coworker when a fumbling figure began shuffling their way towards you. Welp, there she was, Leslie, obviously drunk and twisting her arm around some other dude probably half her age and heading almost directly towards your table.

 

“Pssst, if you don’t wanna get dragged into this, I suggest we scatter.”

 

Sike said as they hopped up out of their seat and made a beeline for the bar. Anna, with a surprised squeak, gave you an apologetic look as she made her way towards the restrooms. You, unfortunately, had the choice of either retreating back towards the darkest corner of the room, where most couples went to secretly have sex, or go forward directly into the figures you were hoping to get away from.

 

However you indecision was too costly.

 

“Y/N!!! Ohf muy gahd! I thoughtt yu wernt c’ming. Ohf muy gahd, oh muy gahg, you need t’ come dansse! Shh shh, bby, you sit herr I be back shoon.”

 

Leslie, your boss, in all her drunken glory, sat her compatriot down in the chair next to you and grabbed your hand and was pulling you out to the dance floor, all in the same fell swoop.

 

You were not given a chance to respond at all before you were suddenly completely surrounded by dancers and the relentless music. 

  
  


_ Thump thump thump thump  _

  
  


You let yourself get pushed back and forth with the undulating movements of the crowd. You honestly wished you hadn’t taken off your cardigan earlier, the brushing of skin to skin with other people against your bare arms sent shivers up your spine. You tried to push your way towards the bar but jerked back the way you came when some dude tried to pull you in to dance.

  
  


_ Thump thump thump thump  _

  
  


Back the other direction, maybe you could make it to the restroom and hole up in there with Anna. Some large monster ran a hand down your arm. Nope, nope, nope, nope! You pulled away, you were now squarely in the center of the floor, walled in by constantly moving crowd.

You didn’t want to be here, you needed to breathe, too many people touching you. You squeezed your eyes shut.

 

A familiar touch on your arm, comforting, gentle… boney. You reached out and your hand finds purchase in a hoodie. Your knees buckle as you let out a soft cry.

 

“Help me.”

 

You gasp as you are pulled flush against your savior’s chest, but before you could think about that there was a strange pulled sensation and your ears popped and you felt as if all the air was sucked out of your lungs. The thought passed through your thoughts, maybe you had passed out? Then with another popping sensation, your eyes fluttered open to the sight of the parking lot outside the club.

 

Then you noticed who it was who had actually saved you.

 

“well, not ‘xactly how I thought I’d get ta introduce myself, but... shit doll, ya didn’t seem like you were enjoying that  _ dancely _ packed floor, eh?”

 

Oh, well shit, Mr. Hot Topic skeleton. You were practically draped over his chest and there was sweat dripping down his skull. The next thing you realized that it was cold. A shiver ran through your body, and your teeth began to chatter.

 

“Th-th-th-thanks, I hav-v-v-ve, a hard-d-d t-t-time with c-c-cr-rowds.”

 

You pulled yourself up and out of his embrace and wrapped your arms around yourself and rubbed your arms to try and keep yourself warm.

 

“S-s-sooooo h-how’d-d-d I g-g-get out-t-t her-r-re? D-d-did-d I p-p-pass out-t-t?”

 

“nah, I just took a shortcut, made it easier ya get ya out of that  _ indance _ situation.”

 

You narrowed your eyes. Ok, so he was just as bad as Sans when it came to puns, but maybe you had jumped to conclusions about him. You sighed.

 

“ey, you ok? Ya ain’t looking too  _ hot _ there?”

 

“M-m-my sw-w-wearer is still-ll-ll insid-d-de. It’s-s-s a litt-ttle c-c-cold out here.”

 

“ah, shit doll, I forget you humans are more affected by temp changes.”

 

He peeled off his hoodie and handed it over to you. You hesitated for a second then pulled it over your shoulders.  It was really warm but had a strangely heavy smell of mustard and sweat on it.

 

“Thanks.”

 

You said with a soft smile.

 

“I’m sorry we haven’t been properly introduced. I’m Y/N, your next door neighbor. Nice to finally meet you…?”

 

You stuck a hand out from underneath the hoodie.

 

“well, I couldn’t have let that be the case much longer, my name is Red, but you can call me tonight.”

 

It took you a hot second before you realized the cheesy pickup line. You let a small snort as you smiled at just how dumb it had sounded.

 

“Wow, really? Can’t say I’ve ever had someone ask for my number that smoothly...Red.”

 

“what can I say? what is a nice girl like you doing in a dirty mind like mine?”

 

Ok, starting to laying it on a bit more thickly. You didn’t quite know how to deal with this, you had a hard enough time with compliments, but flirting? Oh god, you were bad! Also, you seriously needed to get back inside and get your stuff. Might as well leave is Leslie is that far gone.

 

“Ok, ok big guy. Enough enough, gimme a second, I’m gunna go grab my stuff so you can get your jacket back.”

 

“hold on, I can get your stuff. wait here.”

 

“But…”

 

In the blink of an eye and that popping sound again, Red was gone. You started a little, looking around where he had been standing a second ago. Did he just? Did you drink too much? Were you hallucinating? A few seconds later, with another popping sound, there was Red with your cardigan and your purse. He gave you that same cocky grin you’re seen on him, the light of the street lamps glinting off his gold tooth.

 

“hey doll, I may not be skinny, but i’m  _ ribbed _ for your pleasure.”

 

You froze, did he just make a sex pun and a skeleton pun at the same time??? You blinked and stared at him, warmth creeping up your neck as you tried to process the situation. God, he was hitting on you hardcore, and your brain had fizzled out and died on you. This scenario did not compute.

 

“ ‘ello? you still there, doll? or is this not gunna be the first time tonight I leave you speechless?”

 

Ok, way too much, you shook your head to get your head back in the game. You grabbed your cardigan and bag then slipped Red’s coat off of your shoulders and handed it back to him.

 

“Listen, thanks for that, but I don’t do random hookups, it’s not something I’m interested in.”

 

“now, you say random, but I say life changing.”

 

“Don’t push your luck here.”

 

You honestly didn’t like the idea of sleeping with randoms. It was too impersonal, you needed a connection, to feel something first before you could even think about anything sexual. You liked the term Demisexual, it seemed to be the closest thing to accurately describe you.

 

Then as you were getting yourself back together, a wayward thought clicked in your head.

 

“Wait… you can fucking teleport?!?!”

 

“never tried that, might be dangerous.”

 

“No, stop, I’m being serious! Is that something you can do with your magic?”

 

“yep…”

 

“Are you the only one that can do this?”

 

“nope.”

 

“Is this something all monsters can do?”

 

“nope.”

 

“Only skeletons?”

 

“some.”

 

“Who can do it?”

 

“me, Classic, Rus, and Stretch.”

 

“Classic?”

 

“Sans…”

 

“Oh… wow, that is seriously amazing… what I wouldn’t give to be able to do that! I would be able to save so much money and not have to drive around! No car payments, no insurance, no gas bills!”

 

The thought was incredible, that was over $400+ you could save a month. You got lost in your thoughts for a second, silently wishing you could use magic or even had magic for something like this.

 

“That is seriously cool. There are probably millions of people who would give anything to have a power like that. God, that’d be fucking sweet.”

 

You had a giddy smile on your face, you looked over at Red who had a more confused smile on his face.

 

“So do you have the ability to teleport all the way home? Or do you need a ride?”

 

Red gave a noncommittal shrug.

 

“can if I want, but right now I’d rather not.”

 

He gave a wink as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned towards you.

 

“Pffff, ok then, down boy. I’ll offer you a lift if you promise to behave.”

 

“can’t promise nothi’n unless i get those digits first.”

 

You sighed as you narrowed your eyes. He wasn’t going to let up. You reached into your bag and pulled out a pen and a gum wrapper that was crumpled at the bottom of the bag. You quickly scribbled your number and handed it over. He reached out to grab for it, but you held on, your own look of mischief. 

 

“Are you going to behave?”

 

You came across a bit more forceful than you intended, but it seemed to have some sort of effect on Red. He started sweating quite a bit and nodded. You smiled and let go.

 

“Good. I need to let me coworkers know I didn’t die, then we can leave.”

 

 

**You— hey Anna, I’m alive… a friend saved me from Leslie, I’m gonna go home now before I have another panic attack. See you at work tomorrow.**

 

**Anna— oh thank god, I thought you were a goner, go relax, I’m gonna drive Sike home. Nite**

 

 

“Ok, I’m ready.”

 

You tucked your phone back into your bag and fished out your keys as you made your way to your car. Thank god you had cleaned most of it out the other day.

 

The drive home was relatively nice, Red didn’t try anything funny, but he was definitely relentless with his fuckboy style of flirtation. It was a least entertaining to continually block his advances, but you had to stay on your toes cause driving and staying mentally sharp and witty was a bit draining. 

 

At one point there was a significant lull in the conversation. It wasn’t quite that awkward, you had certainly gotten a good idea of just who Red was: he was crass and crude, there was definitely an aggressive streak in there, but his laziness seemed to trump that aggression, there was a slight hint of sadness when you had asked him about his brother, seemed like theirs was a rocky relationship.

 

To break the silence you turned on the radio, you flipped around a few stations not finding anything to your taste. Finally, one station was playing some 2000’s era music, thank goodness. You kept the volume relatively quiet but enough to fill the space. You hummed along quietly at first. Soon you had forgotten about your passenger and were singing along like you normally would.

  
  


_ I never thought I’d feel this _

 

_ Guilty and broken down inside _

 

_ Living with myself, nothing but lies _

  
  


You started out quiet, practically mumbling the words. It had been forever since you’d heard this song. 

  
  


_ I always thought I’d make it _

 

_ But never knew I’d let it get so bad _

 

_ Living with myself is all I had _

  
  


As the music swelled, your voice got steadier and more confident with the slow and sad lyrics.

  
  


_ I feel numb _

 

_ I can’t come to life _

 

_ I feel like I’m frozen in time _

  
  


If you were being more self-conscious, you might have turned the radio off, but you wanted to let yourself go down memory lane.

  
  


_ Livin’ in a world so cold _

 

_ Wastin’ away _

 

_ Livin’ in a shell with no soul _

 

_ Since you’ve gone away _

 

_ Livin’ in a world so cold _

 

_ Countin’ the days _

 

_ Since you’ve gone away _

 

_ You’ve gone away _

  
  


You always resonated with this song, you had discovered it after having to let someone you loved go. 

  
  


_ Do you ever feel me? _

 

_ Do you ever look deep down inside? _

 

_ Starin’ at yourself, paralyzed? _

  
  


You could remember the feelings of letting them leave with someone else and you had never been able to express those feelings.

  
  


_ I feel numb _

 

_ I can’t come to life _

 

_ I feel like I’m frozen in time _

  
  


You felt your voice grow stronger while you unintentionally spilled your emotions out in the car.

  
  


_ Livin’ in a world so cold _

 

_ Wastin’ away _

 

_ Livin’ in a shell with no soul _

 

_ Since you’ve gone away _

 

_ Livin’ in a world so cold _

 

_ Countin’ the days _

 

_ Since you’ve gone away _

 

_ You’ve gone away, from me! _

  
  


As you reached the bridge of the song and you were completely lost in the song. Only you, the words, and the road were the focus of your mind.

  
  


_ I’m too young to lose my soul _

 

_ I’m too young to feel this old _

 

_ So long, I’m left behind _

 

_ I feel like I’m losin’ my mind _

  
  


_ Do you ever feel me? _

 

_ Do you ever look deep down inside? _

 

_ Starin’ at your life, paralyzed? _

  
  


_ Livin’ in a world so cold _

 

_ Wastin’ away _

 

_ Livin’ in a shell with no soul _

 

_ Since you’ve gone away _

 

_ Livin’ in a world so cold _

 

_ Countin’ the days _

 

_ Since you’ve gone away _

 

_ You’ve gone away, from me! _

  
  


_ I’m too young! _

 

_ I’m too young! _

  
  


You finished with a long-held out note leaving you mostly out of breath. You refocused as you pulled into your driveway. You parked and quickly turned the car and the music off, hoping the darkness would hide your red face. 

 

You coughed slightly.

 

“Um... so here we are…”

 

You opened your door and hopped out, not really knowing what else to say and not really wanting to look Red in the face. You pretended to busy yourself with your bag and keys, hoping to look like you were distracted and didn’t actually notice the pointed look from his red eye-lights.

 

He got out on the other side not saying a word and closed the door behind him as he walked towards the back of your car.

 

You moved in that direction as well, still pretending to be focused on your bag as you took a few steps towards your front door. Then feeling a little guilty you turned around to find that Red was there directly behind you, looking up into your face, expression indiscernible. 

 

“Oh, um… I wanted to say thank you again for helping me out back there. I don’t really like random people touching me, you really saved me from a full on panic attack.”

 

You barely noticed the hesitant hand reach out and touch your face until you felt the contact of bone to skin. A thumb placed under your chin to lift your face up so that you were looking directly into his eyes. You didn’t flinch away from the contact. It wasn’t forceful, it wasn’t really unwanted. In a weird way it was comforting and reassuring.

 

“Hmmm?” 

 

You asked questioningly, face a deep crimson shade.

 

Silence pervaded the area once again, only the sound of cars and muffled suburban noises remained for a beat.

 

_ Thump thump thump thump _

 

This time the pounding wasn’t of some annoying club music, but the sound of blood pumping through your ears at a rapid pace.

 

_ Thump thump thump thump _

 

The hand pulled away and was stuffed into his pocket.

 

“nah doll, don’t worry ‘bout it. also, just saying, my color looks good on you.”

 

And with a wink, he was gone.

 

Now, what the heck had all that been about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, currently in the middle or writing Ch 6, but I'm also very focused on preparing for an art show so it will probably be another 2 weeks until the next chapter. Anyhooo, like I've said before, Red is one of the hardest characters for me to characterize but he is one of my favorites. Hopefully, once this semester is over it will probably be easier for me to get chapters out. Thanks again for all the support y'all!


	6. Light Through Yonder Window

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welp, you finally figure out that it might be a bad idea to keep your windows and blinds open at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in this Chapter: "Early Mourning" by ALESANA

You groaned as you rolled over in your bed the next morning. It was a headache, as you had predicted. Well, at least you didn’t have to worry about getting up right away to get ready for classes. Rolling over, you reached under your pillow and found your phone. You scrunch up your nose in annoyance at the bright light that came from the screen as you turned it on. 5:37 am… damn, you'd only been asleep for a few hours but know you were wide awake. Sighing, you kicked off the covers, staring up at the ceiling hidden in the morning darkness. Oh, wait… yeah, you had been drinking last night as well, not a lot, but enough to have probably been impacting this headache. You closed your eyes and silently counted ten seconds out.

 

_ One…Two......Three…Four…Five…Six...Seven…Eight…....Nine…Ten... _

 

Get up… you inwardly yelled at yourself. Your limbs didn’t want to respond now. You groaned, forcing your eyes open and frowned.

 

_ Get… Up… _

 

With a groan and some effort, you slowly got yourself up to a sitting position. You let your body adjust. Then you move to sit on the edge of the bed. You wait again for another couple of moments. You think about getting up but don’t. Another moment, another groan and your standing, swaying slightly, but you are up on your feet. You slowly, with shuffling feet, make your way through your darkened room to the door, pulling it open.

 

Thankfully you left a small light on in the kitchen. You make your way to your section of the pantry and push a couple of pill bottles aside and grab the pain killer. After downing two pills with water, you stood with your eyes closed knowing that you would have to wait for the pain to subside, but still wishing it would instantly just vanish.

 

A couple more minutes of just standing in the kitchen, it was honestly too early to make something to eat and you weren’t really hungry. You took a step back towards your room but you were distracted by a light. It’s not like it hadn’t been there, it hadn’t just turned on, but the light of a glowing cigarette was in the window of your neighbor's house. It was the window directly across from your kitchen windows. Huh, you weren’t the only one up.

You were still waking up and weren’t really fully comprehending the situation. Your roommate must have left the window open ‘cause the weather was warmer. But the two facts, the light, and the window stuck out but you didn’t completely put two and two together as you walked over and looked out the window. You blinked, staring at the glowing light in the dark. The red glow was like an angry star that had chased all the little white stars away. You leaned on the window sill. 

 

“didn’t take ya for a sleepwalker, kitten.”

 

A familiar, deep drawling voice said from the darkness. Once again, it sent a shiver down your spine. Ok, you were awake now. 

 

Now you were aware. Shit, people can see into your kitchen, how many dumb things had he seen you do? You were prone to being unobservant and liked to sing and dance while in the kitchen cause you liked how you could slide on the floor even in bare feet. He probably thought you were either a ridiculous idiot or crazy. Oh, shit, he said something… you needed to say something back, right?

 

“Uh… oh, no… I got up for painkillers, hell of a headache. Um, the night air is good for that too.”

 

Wow, obvious dodge, but you weren’t completely lying. You stood up straight, you thought about closing the window and blinds, but that felt rude. You also were feeling a bit trapped by this small talk.

 

“heh, don’t worry, kitten, i won’t hold it against ya if you were trying to catch a peek.”

 

“What? No, no, no, no, no, no… I wasn’t…”

 

“nah, i know, it’s just entertain’n to see you frazzled.”

 

Well, you certainly were frazzled. You could hear a hearty chuckle coming from the figure cloaked in darkness.

 

“So… can’t sleep?”

 

You ask, trying to be polite. Wait, why did you ask? You should have just nervous chuckled then said goodnight so you could go back to your room and hide. But something had you oh so curious about this skeleton, well honestly you were curious about all of the skeletons. Part of you didn’t want to give up this opportunity to chat, even if it was an ungodly time in the morning to be awake.

 

“oh, i could sleep if i want, just felt like being awake right now.”

 

The light of his cigarette grew very bright, and this time you could hear him inhale before he heard him let out his breath. Then suddenly, the light went out and it was dark outside once again. For a second you thought he’d left before you saw another light, this time a piercing, singular white beam looking straight at you. It made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

 

“Oh…”

 

Was all you could say in response. You didn’t know quite how to proceed from this point. The small talk felt like it had walked itself into a dead end. You fidgeting, not knowing exactly what to do or say.

 

“so... now, what do we do? continue to chat through the windows, or you gunna invite me over, kitten?”

 

You stared, wide-eyed. It was such a blatantly bold question, somewhere between a request and a demand. You had half a mind to slam the window shut and walk away, but you didn’t. You remembered that this skeleton... Rus… was a major flirt, and that made you nervous.

 

“I… I don’t to random hookups, especially with my neighbors.”

 

You stated firmly, clenching and unclenching your fists.

 

“ah, nah… ‘m sorry. i just meant it’d be easier to chat if it wasn’t across the ways.”

 

“Oh…”

 

You said again, feeling a bit stupid. Logically yeah, it would be better to chat face to face rather than through your windows. Buuuuuut, then again, you liked the mystery of it. At that thought a slight smile crept at the corners of your lips.

 

“Hmmmm, as much as that makes sense, I can’t think of a situation that would be safe for me. One, I could have you come over, but it’s just poor lil old me here on my own and you sir do not seem like the type to keep things virtuous. Again with option two, me coming over there would be more treacherous since I would be in your territory with no way to defend my honor. Lastly, three… I don’t think meeting on the street in the middle of the night would be safe for anyone.”

 

You leaned back down, resting your head in your hand as you tried to stare back confidently back through the darkness. You normally were not this witty this early in the morning, your were surprised that you were even holding an intelligible conversation.

 

Another chuckle. Your eyes were beginning to adjust to the low light, and you could just barely make out the form of Rus sitting in the window, staring across back at you.

  
  


“well, then an impasse, eh? a shame, that pretty cami ya got would look great on my floor. Ah, but here we are, separated just by the air and the dark.”

 

Wow, how could he be both cringy and eloquent in the same sentence?

 

“Well, it won’t be dark for much longer, sun should be up soon.”

 

“i’d say the suns ‘lready up, puttin’ the moon to shame”

 

You squinted your eyes, this dialogue sounded familiar, and it was nagging at the back of your mind. This situation sort of felt familiar too, but not like familiar as in you’d done this before, but like, this was some sort of story you knew.

 

“ ‘s bright enough to make all the stars run away in shame.”

 

You were blushing, and you just barely realized that he had leaned closer, despite the distance. You wondered how he was keeping balance cause it sure looked like he was about to fall out of the window.

 

“am i speaki’n too boldy? 

 

Then it clicked, ahhhh, the cheeky devil. A Shakespearean love story from a balcony, practically ripping lines from the script, almost. They were a bit twisted, but the connotation was still there. It had been such a long time since you’d read Romeo and Juliet. A problematic tale, but it still was romantic nonetheless. You had to memorized scenes from the play for your sophomore English exam in high school. You still had your script somewhere as an old keepsake. Funny that he had picked this section of the play to recite. You had done this exact scene as a reading for that exam with your first boyfriend, thankfully you both had gotten an A due to your very convincing ‘acting’.

 

Two could play this game.

 

“Ay me..”

 

You rest your head in both your hands now and let your gaze wander up into the sky. You could faintly tell that it was no longer a black void, but now a dark grey-blue, the actual sun would be up soon.

 

Rus took a second to respond, clearly taken aback, but he was quick to recover. You could hear the grin in his voice.

 

“she speaks. speak again, it's like an angel in the dark.”

 

Ok… not really the exact wording, but you could work with this.

 

“Wherefore art thou? Denying thyself sleep and refusing to back down? Or is it because you cannot, and I should just give up and no longer think of sleep?”

 

You were really butchering this, but to be honest, this was too much fun to stop.

 

“Tis it sleep that is now thine enemy? Should we no longer call it sleep? Ah, but that is its name and shan't be called anything else. What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

 

“then call it something else, and let's be done with it.”

 

“Who is this man who’s hiding in the night and overhearing my private thoughts? How did you get here?”

 

Yeah, yeah… you may have skipped a couple of lines, but whatever, you didn’t really remember all the lines anyway.

 

Your question hung in the air, the sky had lightened just a shade more. You could see him better now. He sat with both legs out the window, looking directly at you still. You couldn’t quite discern the expression on his face. You laughed softly to fill the silence.

 

“Sorry, didn’t take you for a thespian. If you don’t remember the rest that’s fine. Also, you might want to climb back into the window, your making me nervous that your going to fall.”

 

You shifted a bit uneasily, folding your arms together as you gave him a look of concern. Another beat passed as the two of you exchanged looks. Then a lazy smile spread across his face.

 

“heh, worried ‘bout me, kitten? don’t be i’ll be fine.”

 

“Still, it makes me nervous. I don’t like the idea of falling.”

 

He laughed and shifted, and you watched in silent horror as he pushed himself from the window frame. You didn’t have time to comprehend what was happening, or even get a chance to call out before he disappeared with a popping sound. You clenched at your window sill, staring at the ground, expecting to see Rus laying there in pain, but there was nothing there.

 

You turned around to go out the backdoor, when, with another popping sound, Rus stood in front of you in the kitchen. You had little time to react before you smacked straight into him. You let out a gasp of surprise.

 

His arms wrapped around you, holding you up, you could smell cigarette smoke on him, as well as something tangy that you couldn’t quite place. You stood there in stunned silence, not knowing what to do or say. Until you heard his deep voice once again whispering low and close to your ear.

 

“o, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?”

 

A direct quote this time, but it felt so twisted from the original, a double meaning. You slowly reached behind you and untangled yourself from his grasp. You took a step back and crossed your arms. Your heart was beating a million miles a second. You didn’t know if it was from the terror of seeing him jump from the window or from the words he had just said. You closed your eyes for a brief second, inhaled deep, then let it out, effectively slowing your heart rate down slightly. You opened your eyes and looked directly at Rus’s face.

 

“Listen, that was fucked up and cruel to prey on my legitimate fears. Also, I did not invite you over. I told you I don’t do hookups. I can’t do that sort of thing to myself. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

 

Rus gave a sheepish look, scuffing his shoe across the floor.

 

“sorry, kitten… didn’t mean ya scare ya that bad. i’ll get out of your hair.”

 

He turned towards the backdoor, making to actually leave through there instead of teleporting out. Yet, before he was completely out the door, he turned back with that same lazy grin.

 

“my offer will always be open, kitten.”

 

Then he walked out before letting you say another word.

 

You weren't mad, well… yes, you were mad, but not mad exactly. You were upset that the situation hadn’t been better. You wished that he had waited for you to invite him over, rather than just appearing. Also, it kind of unnerved you that some of the skeletons could just pop in and out of your apartment without any warning. You looked back over to your window. You sighed and reached over and closed it along with the blinds.

 

Great, now you’d have to explain to your roommate why you’d have to do this every night because you apparently needed to be more cautious about privacy. You turned and headed back to your room, closing the door behind you and for once, locking it.

 

You flopped down on your bed, sighing heavily. You grabbed your cell and headphones and flipped through to let your songs play on random. You needed to escape, you didn’t want to keep realizing what just happened.

  
  


_ Last night I forgot _

_ How the sound of your voice whispered sweet goodbyes _

_ Your eyes, left to die _

_ I'm alone to understand why _

 

_ Why not one more night? _

_ One last kiss goodbye? _

_ My sweet love, tonight _

_I hope the stars still spell out your name where you are_  
  


• • • * • • •

 

Rus walked back into his room, he felt so exhausted, but it all had been worth it. He stuffed his hand into his pocket and pulled out the spare key he had seen hanging by the door. You hadn’t noticed due to your embarrassment. Hopefully, this would please M’lord.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I disappeared, the second after everything was done for my art show, I was figuratively swamped by projects and homework. I did write a full chapter but later realized that it didn't fit where I wanted it to, so I had to start over. This one is a bit shorter than what I normally write, but I didn't want to do the entire balcony scene, haha. So anyhooooo... I have basically a week left of school then I am off for the summer. Hopefully, even if I get a summer camp job, I'll be able to still write and update things here.


	7. Words and Meanings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've been avoiding the skeletons, and now you've got some plans with your friends. Hopefully, tonight will be just some good simple fun and relaxation on your first week of Spring Break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in the Chapter: "My Nightmare" by Get Scared

You felt bad, but you avoided pretty much all of the skeleton brothers after that experience. It left you uncomfortable and you needed to focus on school and finishing up these damn projects before your week off. But here you were, cleaning up at the end of your last class of the week. The room was buzzing with voices and interjections of laughter. You absently looked around as you broke down your easel. Two of the guys were bantering back and forth about how one of their drawings looked like an abstract version of Spongebob rather than an abstract of the still life that had been set up. 

 

“You used to much yellow, dude. Maybe just stick to using the charcoal before branch off into such harsh colors.”

 

You say with a grin as you stacked the easel with the other ones against the wall. You turned around and nearly tripped over someone’s bag. You rolled your eyes, the room was so cluttered. Well, at least the janitors would have a chance to actually try and get the studio clean over the break. Charcoal, pastel, and chalk dust were everywhere. 

 

“Hey, Y/N, are we still planning on getting the group together to, for once, actually have a chance to game?”

 

You turned to the guy who had made the Spongebob abstract, Asim, a tall gangly guy with a large afro and an oversized ramen package as the design for a hoodie. He was a lot younger than you, heck most of your classmates were a lot younger than you, taking a five-year hiatus from school left a huge gap in ages here. The largest gap was you and the sixteen-year-old who was dual enrolled in college and high school. 

 

“Depends on if everyone is gunna be able to make it. I wouldn’t blame them if they turned tail and ran out of fright of what I’ve got prepared for y’all.”

 

You gave a mock-sinister laugh.

 

“Sweet, dude. Olli, you gunna be able to make it?”

 

And with that Asim turned back to the guy he had been previously talking to. You headed back over and packed your things back into your bag and slung it over your shoulder. Fishing your keys out of the side pocket you walked back over to the two who had been joined by two others.

 

“Oki doki, I’m assuming this meeting of the minds is to confirm our game for later? If we are all set on time and place, I’m gunna bounce so I can go and get everything set up. I’ll let y’all worry ‘bout food and carpooling, eh?”

 

There was a round of affirmatives as you headed out of the classroom. You sighed contentedly, as you made it out into the warm spring air. Everything smelled so fresh, there were little buds popping out from the trees, and very soon you’re be done with the semester and be working like a fiend to save up for the next semester.

You got to your car and quickly dropped everything into the front passenger seat and slipped into the driver's seat.

 

You played some random playlist on the way home, but honestly didn’t really pay attention to what came on as you thoughts drifted off in a different direction. Your neighbors being the main topic of your thoughts. Yeah, you were still upset about Rus’s actions, but you partially thought that maybe you were a bit harsh, he had sounded apologetic when you’d yelled at him. Yet, even if it was due to culture differences, you’d think he’d have heard about respecting privacy and not just teleporting into peoples homes by now. 

 

You shook your head, you didn’t want to get caught in that loop again. You’d just get mad and confused again. You then thought about the others, ok, yeah, you did feel guilty about avoiding them all as sort of an unnecessary punishment for what one of them had done. They didn’t deserve that, especially after a lot of them had been so nice to you. Your mind wandered a bit further back and you found yourself blushing from the memories of certain interactions. You blinked and glanced down at your speed and quickly noticed you’d been going a tad fast. You gently tapped the break, slowing yourself down and pulled into the slow lane so you could get off at your exit. 

 

After getting off the highway, it was only a couple more turns and one set of lights before you pulled up in front of your apartment. Deep breath in, long release out, you turned the keys and looked over at your bad and art tackle box. To leave or not to leave? You debated for half a second then got out of the car and grabbed your stuff. Oh, you forgot you had some stuff in the backseat you needed as well. Maybe you could make it in one go? Honestly no, but that wouldn’t stop you from trying.

 

You tried to strategically place everything, messenger bag on your left shoulder, camera backpack on your back, art papers rolled up under your right arm, statue project balancing in your left hand, keys in your right, lunch bag tightly gripped between your teeth and water bottle strap around your right wrist. Ok, you gingerly step back and kick your car door closed. You slowly turn to star at the short set of stairs you’d have to get up to the porch, you were already drooling due to the lunch box handle in your mouth. You sucked in the air trying to keep most of the saliva from dribbling down your chin. Great, you really hope no one was watching. 

 

“need a hand there, kid?”

 

Fuck your luck.

 

You don’t turn your head completely, but looking out of the right corner of your eye, you saw San (Classic?) standing on his front porch leaning on the rail with his signature half-lidded eyes and grin. You look between him and everything you were carrying and carefully shrugged. The movement made you almost trip your statue, cuss a wave of panic and you swayed trying to keep everything balanced. The papers under your arm slipped from your armpit and you jerked to just barely pin them against your hip with your elbow. This left you in such an awkward position. You let out an aggravated grunt then looked back at Sans with a look that clearly explained your need for assistance.

 

The shorter skeleton gave a deep throaty chuckle then walked on the porch down to where you were. 

 

“guess you could use a  _ hand _ .”

 

But instead of grabbing anything, he stood next to you and clapped his hands together. Your eyes went wide and you let out an exasperated groan.

 

“Shansh, hewp meh!”

 

“alright, alright thought you could use some encouragement, but I see your in no  _ position _ to accept it.”

 

“Shansh, nowt nowah.”

 

You shifted slightly, trying to push the papers up with your elbow, but thankfully Sans finally, with another chuckle, took those from you.

 

“anything else, kid?”

 

You switched the statue to your other hand and slipped the messenger bag off your shoulder and handed it off. Sans nearly dropped it when it took it.

 

“stars, kid, you carrying bricks in here?”

 

Holding a finger up, you then shifted the statue back to your left hand. You didn’t want to hand the statue over, it was half finished and only you knew where to hold onto it and you didn’t want anyone else handling it lest it breaks. You hooked the lunch bag in the crook of your left hand’s thumb and let out a breath of relief as you wiped your face with the back of your right hand.

 

“No, but my Art History book is about as heavy as a bag of bricks. I’m going to have back problems for a while cause of that stupid thing.”

 

You rolled your shoulders, relieved at the release from pressure. You hated that stupid textbook, gave you nothing but grief in more ways than one.

 

“Thanks, I honestly was too lazy to make a second trip but I bit off a bit more than I could chew.”

 

“hey, i’m not going to fault you there. i would have just left everything in the car, myself.”

 

“I would, but I get paranoid about leaving stuff out here, especially when I know I’m going to be working on one or another of my pieces.”

 

You now made your way up to the front door, and gingerly unlocked and opened the door with one hand. This would have been a nightmare before, as well as trying the get up the winding stairs. You were thankful that you and your roommate kept the upstairs door to your apartment unlocked. You both trusted your downstairs neighbors. You smiled at the thought, maybe you’d go see Stretch and Blue later ask how things were going? Maybe ask them if they wanted to go to the small faire your sister had mentioned she was taking her kids to.

 

Quietly making the plans in your head, you managed to scoot sideways through the door after bumping it with your hip. You had to twist your statue in order to get it through the door, but once inside you went straight to the dining room and rested it by the table.

 

“Ahhhh, that’s so much better.”

 

You turned back and stretched your hands out and took your stuff back from Sans.

 

“Thanks again.”

 

You smile as you watch him stuff his hands into his hoodie pockets and grin with a wink and a shrug.

 

“ah, it’s no biggie, i can’t help myself if there’s a damsel in distress.”

 

“Pffff, I ain’t no damsel, but there was certainly some stress to that situation. Most people’d just watch as I struggled and descended into chaos.”

 

You began shuffling about, rearranging your stuff. Sans Stood around for a few moments, watching you walk back and forth until he walked over and flopped onto the couch in the living room.

 

“Hope you don’t mind dog hair on your clothes if you're going to sit there, haha.”

 

“eh, wouldn’t be the first time.”

 

Confused at first, then you remembered that some of the more popular monsters were the dog monsters. They had had an easier time integrating due to humans natural love for dogs. Though, sometimes you wondering if they had been either delighted or offended by the idea of dogs being “man’s best friend”. Either way, sometimes there were random thoughts that would come to your mind that you wondered how monsters dealt with said thing. Like, you never realized how many songs used the word “monster” or had the word in the title. The word wasn’t always used in a positive light.

 

You thought about your game tonight, a pang of guilt hit your stomach. Most fantasy tabletop roleplay settings dealt with the fighting monsters, most low level monsters people would fight were “undead”... zombies, ghosts, and (of course) skeletons. They were always depicted as mindless minions, but with how things were nowadays, you wondered how ethical it would be considered? You silently decided to stop using skeletons as monsters in your campaign.

 

“Hey, Sans, do you want anything to drink? I can make some tea if you’re interested.”

 

You glanced over to the couch and saw that the skeleton was completely out cold, head looking back against the couch. You rolled your eyes. You didn’t like tea anyway.

 

You needed to set up for the game anyway. You set about putting everything away and cleaning up the living room. You tried nudging Sans to wake his up, but he seemed like he was not getting up any time soon, not even the vacuum cleaner woke him up as you tried to get as much of the dog hair off of the couch as possible. You set up some extra chairs and pulled out the game books, DM screen, minis, and combat board. It was a basic one shot tonight, nothing fancy.

 

Now you wanted to make some snacks. Still no sign of Sans getting up from his impromptu nap, so you put on some music for while you did some baking. You weren’t an incredible baker, you simply followed the recipes, mostly simple ones and nothing fancy. You roommate was the awesome baker. She likes to make macaroons and decorate cakes.

 

You spent some time humming around the kitchen. Mostly slower songs, none really catching your attention, until you’d gotten the cookies into the oven. 

  
  


_ In a slumber where no one can wake me from _

_ The scent of her skin still haunts my lungs _

_ Where the moon never leaves her eyes _

_ Here's a toast to another endless night _

 

_ It’s a feeling in my bones _

_ A carousel for two that no one knows _

_ What a twist when we kiss I feel sick _

_ Any moment I will wake without her lips _

 

_ My Paradise _

_ I stripped and I'm weak _

_ You'll never know _

_ How much it kills me _

 

_ Every time I close my eyes _

_ I dream that you're still here (this is, this is my nightmare) _

_ Every time I go to sleep, I scream cause you're not there _

_ This is my nightmare _

  
  


You sang along, going back and forth between the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Moving things around make enough space for four extra people. This song… it tended to stir up memories you kind of didn’t want to tread, but… it was catchy and got stuck in your head.

  
  


_ As you fade right behind my eyelids _

_ I get the feeling it's so familiar _

_ But I can't do a thing to stop this now _

_ Oh, I can't believe this is happening to me again _

 

_ The wake of change is crashing _

_ The lust of our fate is rusting _

_ I hope I never wake up _

_ It's not enough _

 

_ My paradise  _

_ Is stripped and I'm weak _

_ You'll never know  _

_ How much it kills me _

 

_ Every time I close my eyes _

_ I dream that you're still here (this is, this is my nightmare) _

_ Every time I go to sleep, I scream cause you're not there _

_ This is my nightmare _

 

_ This is my nightmare! _

  
  


The music slowed as it got to the bridge, you couldn't help but move in time with the beat. Rising up on the balls of your feet, crisscrossing, and doing a slow spin as your arms move and reach upwards.

  
  


_ Floating, walking on air _

_ I turn my head for just a moment _

_ And your gone again _

  
  


Beat drops, and you let everything compact: hands clenched into fists, body curls in on itself, stance goes wide. You let the pleading sorrowful stanza flow out through your emotions. You’ve stopped singing.

  
  


_ This is not the way it’s supposed to be! _

_ I've lost it all _

_ This is not what I expect from someone that I love  _

_ Lost but never found _

_ How dare you pull me out! _

_ Hold me close I'm not alone! _

_ You've left me here to drown! _

  
  


You hear the couch creak and you bolt stock upright. Your face and neck flush. Your head turns slightly as the last chorus plays out and the song finishes. Sans is leaning up against the frame of the entryway into the living room. He had that same half-lidded expression on his face.

 

“mind is i cut in?”

 

Well shit. You wrapped your arms around your middle and blushed violently red. You couldn’t really look him in the face, but instead opted to staring down at his slippers and the carpet. Music, at least certain songs, left you super emotional and vulnerable. You couldn’t help yourself if they came on.

 

“Uh… well, it's not that I mind, but it’s more like… I don’t really let people see me like this.”

 

You could hear Sans intake of breath as if he was about to say something, but thank heavens you cell started ringing. Turning, you hurriedly went to snatch it up. Oh, it was Asim. You hit the answer call and held the phone up to your ear, facing away from the situation you had just gotten pulled out of.

 

“Hey, Asim, what’s up?”

 

You calmly answered, despite the red hot flush on your face.

 

“Ey, so bad news, Kaitlyn had to take Olli to the ER, got a message about its probably appendicitis. So that’s two down so we’re probably gunna have to reschedule. Hopefully, we can do it some time over break.”

 

“Oh, man, dude that’s awful. Hope everything goes well… did it start like, just after I left?”

 

“Yeah, says he’s thought he was just constipated but then the sharp pain started so off the to ER. Hey, me and Bells are gunna head over, want us to say hi for you?”

 

Asim knew your aversion for hospitals. You nodded as you replied.

 

“Yeah, tell them I say hi and to get better soon. Ok, talk to you later, bye.”

 

Then you hung up. Welp, there went all that prep for nothing… again. You turned and saw that Sans was still in the exact spot you had last seen him, a more curious expression on his easy-going face now. You tucked your phone into your pocket and took a few steps towards the living room.

 

“Welp, there go my plans for the evening. Guess I’ll just have to find something else to do.”

 

You shrugged and walked past Sans into the living room and began to clean up everything you had set out. Maybe you’d see if there was anything new on Netflix or Hulu, maybe binge watch a new show. You could possibly order pizza and run to the store for some ice cream to have with the cookies that were in the oven. You sighed, but it honestly couldn’t be helped.

 

“hey, Paps and I don’t have plans tonight. wanna come over and watch something with us? we can try and convince him to try something else besides pasta for once.”

 

You smiled, picking up the books and holding them in front of you up against your chest. You hadn’t seen Papyrus in a while. Well… maybe.

 

“Yeah, sure… that sounds nice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!! So sorry I disappeared for a while. Things kind of got crazy and I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off looking for a new job. But all is well and I've got some good inspiration for the next couple of chapters!  
> TBH, I've realized while writing this that OG Sans is probably one of the hardest characters for me to characterize! I had to go read some other peoples work so that I could get a good picture of him in my head.
> 
> Also, drumroll, please...... I've made a Spotify playlist with most of the theme songs I plan on or have used! Most of the skeletons have a couple of songs that I've picked as their themes for their arcs or themes I think fit their characters. (Brownie points to anyone who can pick the main song for each.) Other songs deal with the reader character. There's one of two songs I couldn't find of Spotify, but then those will just be a surprise then! Hopefully y'all enjoy listening to it!
> 
>  
> 
> [Soul's Song Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/galaxy-of-eden/playlist/1kGngMlwbOInSI2UJCeFVI?si=4NL6SO_cQ6-rs61cp2X0_g)


	8. Truth or Dare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pizza party with party games, what could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in the Chapter: "F**k Away the Pain" by Divide the Day

It had been a while since you’d been in the boy’s house. Honestly, it smelled like pasta mostly. No one seemed to be in the living You so the second you walked in you dropped down onto the couch. Sans followed right after.

 

“I vote Dominoes, it may be a carbohydrate’s wet dream, but it does offer pasta options as well. I’m kind of craving the pasta carbonara right now.”

 

“sounds good to me, kid.”

 

“MISS Y/N! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WOULD BE OVER TONIGHT. WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE!”

 

And right on cue.

 

“Hi Paps, your brother invited me over after my plans got canceled for tonight. We’re considering which pizza place we should call up. Kind of settled on Dominoes. Have you ever tried their pasta bowls?”

 

Papyrus bent down and gave you a hug from behind over the back of the couch. At first, you stiffened at the touch, but then smiled and settled into it. You reached up hesitantly and patted the top of his head.

 

“N-nice to see you too.”

 

“YES, QUITE. NOW, I AM ASSUMING THAT YOU ARE REFERRING TO THE CHAIN RESTAURANT NORMALLY KNOWN FOR ITS PIZZA, CORRECT?”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“WELL I AM SURE THEIR PASTA COULD NOT BE AS GOOD AS THE SPAGHETTI MADE BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”

 

“Well, think of it this way, order food in and you don’t have to make the food and have fewer dishes to take care of afterward. Take a break  for once, Paps.”

 

You looked back and over your shoulder, giving him your biggest smile. Despite being made of bones, he had quite a soft look on his face.

 

“WELL, IT WOULD BE NICE TO NOT HAVE TO CONTINUALLY CHASE DOWN WHOEVER IS ON CLEANING DUTY TO DO THE DISHES. VERY WELL THEN.”

 

You bit your lip trying to hold back a laugh, you knew exactly who he had to chase down to do their part.

 

“Ok then, I can order it from my phone. Any preference?”

 

There was a popping sound and suddenly there was an arm draped around your shoulders. You twitched in surprise and looked over to see Red grinning over at you.

 

“hey, doll, couldn’t help but overhear ya ordering pizza. just so ya know you're the only topping I need on my pizza.”

 

He took his other hand and cupped your chin with it. Damn, really? You neck felt hot and you could feel the crimson flush creeping up to your cheeks. You flicked your eyes over to Sans who had been slightly displaced by the new arrival. He had a sour expression on his face as he scooted back onto the couch. You looked back at Red and tilted your head back to dislodge your chin from his grip. You couched a bit as you stared down at your phone.

 

“Ahem, well, laying it on a little bit thick already, huh, Red? How about a ‘nice to see you again’ or a ‘how's it been’ instead?”

 

“was gett’n ta that, doll”

 

You let yourself smile a little bit, but continued looking through the app on your phone for deals. You heard the front door up and soon both Blue and Stretch entered the room. Blue’s face lit up at the sight of you. You gave him a huge smile in return, standing up and braced yourself for the incoming hug.

 

“Y/N, IT FEELS LIKE I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN SUCH A LONG TIME.”

 

“Yeah, sorry Blue. I’ve been pretty busy with school. But I’m on vacation for a week, so I have some downtime for a bit.”

 

“FANTASTIC, WE SHOULD PLAN SOMETHING!”

 

You laughed, disentangling yourself from his grip. You looked over at Stretch and gave him a wave which he returned with a finger-gun. You rolled your eyes, what a dork. 

 

Instead of sitting down on the couch again, you plopped down next to Blue on the floor.

 

“Now, I’m going to assume we’re getting enough for everyone so let me know how many I should put on the order.”

 

It took a little bit of discussion to get everyone’s order. Part way through, Edge and Black followed by Rus came down. The two former demanding to know what was going on. You only caught a brief glimpse of Rus, before quickly going back to your phone. You still were not ready to talk to him. He seemed to understand and stayed on the stairs, sitting there instead of coming down into the crowd.

 

When the order was finally finished, Sans insisted on paying for the huge order, though you argued to at least partially pay, he refused but you talked him into letting you tip the poor delivery driver who was going to have to deliver your order.

 

While everyone waited, Red brought out drinks including beer and liquor. Oh… you knew you shouldn’t, but you really enjoyed drinking in social situations, plus maybe it would help you feel less anxious with so many of them around and not have to run out like last time.

 

When the pizza arrived, the guy at the door had almost dropped what he’d been carrying when he saw the three skeletons behind you. He seemed pretty happy with the tip he got, and you knew he’d have a good story to take back to his coworkers.

 

You knew you’d probably had one or two too many to drink, but every time your glass seemed empty, you’d turn away for a second and come back to find it full. So you were not sure how many you’d had but you were definitely getting giggly, but still had the wherewithal to keep your hand on your cup this time.

 

“WE SHOULD PLAY A GAME!”

 

Blue piped up at a bit in a lull in the conversation.

 

“Oof, Blue, I don't know if I’m in any capacity to play a board game right now.”

 

You put a hand on his skull and gave it a quick rub.

 

“Have you ever played a conversation game? A lot of people tend to play them as icebreakers to get to know other people better.”

 

“THAT SOUNDS LIKE FUN, WHAT KIND OF GAMES ARE THERE?”

 

You looked up at the ceiling, trying to get your thoughts together. You felt a little foggy at the moment.

 

“Well… uhhh, there’s twenty questions, two truths and a lie, or like… truth or dare.”

 

“HOW SO YOU PLAY TRUTH OR DARE?”

 

Oh boy, this was going to be something, you could already tell.

 

“Well, someone goes first and they have to like… ask someone else whether they wanna give a truth or do a dare. Once you pick, you gotta do it, that’s the rule. I forget how you determine who does what but like… hold on.”

 

You reached over and grabbed one of the empty beer bottles and put it on the coffee table and spun it. The others each gave you a curious look as it finally stopped, pointing at Stretch. You looked at him and smiled.

 

“Truth or Dare?”

 

Shrugging, Stretch sat up from where he’d been slouched against the wall.

 

“truth.”

 

“What was the last thing you texted?”

 

He reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt and flipped through his messages. There was a pause before he answered.

 

“‘cool’ with a thumbs up emoji.”

 

You looked back and Blue.

 

“See? It’s that easy. And for dares you ask them to do stuff like...say the alphabet backward while hopping on one foot. But if it’s really bad, like illegal or inappropriate you're allowed to decline, k?”

 

Blue nodded and the game began. The first couple of rounds were pretty tame. Black and Edge refused to join in, saying this game was “beneath” their prowess and intellect, but didn’t outright leave the room. Rus stayed on the stairs.

 

At first, people mostly went for truths, but then when you spun and it stopped on Blue he was the first to ask for a dare. You thought for a second, squinting your eyes and tapping your finger to your chin.

 

“Hmmmm, I dare youuuuu… tooooo… Go outside and give a tree a kiss.”

 

Red barked out a deep sounding laugh and a light blue blush crept up the little blueberry’s face. He stood up and gave a nod, and rushed out the back door. Everyone stood up to peek out the back windows and watched the dare. Blue marched up and clenched his fists and stared at the tree in the backyard. Then quickly leaned into the tree. You then realized how dumb this dare actually was and felt a little bad… since like… they didn’t technically have lips to kiss with.

 

As you finished that thought, Blue came proudly marching back in, declaring his victory over the dare.

 

“Nice job, Blue.”

 

You said as everyone sat down. You put an arm around his shoulder as a small apology for the dare. Then the game went on. Blue ended up giving Stretch a dare to drink a nasty mixed concoction with his eyes closed so he wouldn’t know what was in the drink. Which he took like a champ, you knew that you would have probably thrown up. Stretch then spun and landed on you.

 

“Truth.”

 

You said quickly, looking over at him from the corner of your eye.

 

“k, so if you could go back in time in erase one thing you said or did, what would it be?”

 

Wow, laying it on heavy. You turned and looked at him. At first glance, his look was fairly neutral, but you could see a serious interest. Ok then.

 

“Well, I made a really dumb decision in high school that I wish I could take back. I kind of see it as the beginning of some of my character flaws. So… I’d change that… yeah.”

 

“WHAT HAPPENED?”

 

You looked over at Blue, he seemed concerned.

 

“Ah, I just decided I liked this guy and ended up getting caught by his mom making out in an empty classroom. Now if it had been a normal high school it would have been less of a deal, but ‘cause I went to a religious school, the teachers and parents freaked. We weren’t even supposed to touch anyone of the opposite gender in that school. It was a pretty messed up place. I left and finished high school online to get away from some of the teachers. But, as I said, if I could I’d change that if I could.”

 

You shrugged trying to make light of the situation, then leaned forward and spun the bottle. It lands on Red. He goes for truth.

 

“The world ends next week and you can do anything you want (even if it's illegal). What would you do?”

 

The second you say that you realize that you’ve probably asked the wrong person this, as he gives you a downright hungry look. 

 

“Ah, right… no need, I know that answer.”

 

“heh, that’s right, doll.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, spin the heck’n bottle Red.”

 

Bottle points to Stretch.

 

“dare.”

 

“ ‘xchange an article of clothing with someone next to ya.”

 

Stretch looked to either side of him. You were on his right and sans was on his left. 

 

“Hey, gimme your hoodie.”

 

You say with a giggle as you pull your own lavender oversized hoodie up over your head. You think this is the first time you’ve caught Stretch blushing as he unceremoniously drops his hoodie on your head and pulls yours on. His hoodie smelled heavily or cigarettes and honey. It’s also thick and bulky. It was oddly comforting. You couldn’t help but feel secure with it on. You flip the hood up over your head and pulled the cords right so that just your mouth was showing. Then turned and stuck your tongue out at Stretch.

 

You heard the bottle spin and Papyrus ask for a dare. 

 

“go outside with some tweezers and carefully pick 100 equal sized blades of grass.”

 

You loosened the hood so that you could see again and watched as Pap got up and declared that he would soon return, but to continue while he performed his task.

 

Blue decides to take the next spin, it lands on you. You decide to go for truth. After what Blue had asked of his brother, you were not in any shape to eat or drink some terrible concoction. Blue fidgets for a second and for once says something in a small voice that you can’t hear.

 

“Hmmm? Can you repeat that, Blue.”

 

He takes a deep breath.

 

“Y/N, have you ever been in love?”

 

Well… shit. This was the last thing you had expected from Blue. The entire room had gone pretty quiet. This was awkward. You took a quick shot of liquid courage before answering.

 

“Yeah…Yeah, I think so…”

 

Blue was giving you this really unreadable look, but he was leaning in, obviously waiting for you to elaborate.

 

“Well...um, I didn’t realize it was love until pretty much too late. It was a friend of mind. We were super close, we did everything together ‘cause we really didn’t have a huge friend group. I was dating some other guy at this time and so were they. I left the school we were attending to go home, but we still talked. Until… I found out she was getting married… and it hurt…”

 

You put a hand on your chest.

 

“But I just told her I was happy for her, and I let her go without telling her how I really felt.”

 

You smiled sadly, pulling your knees up to your chest and wrapping your arms around it, looking over at Blue.

 

“They’ve got a kid now and they’re really happy. It’s like she found her soulmate. And who was I to stand in the way of that? Now, my turn.

 

A couple more turns and Blue was sent off to the store with a dare from Red to go buy Whip Cream, a Cucumber, and Duck Tape. Stretch had tried to intervene, protesting that this a bit much for a dare sine money was involved, but Blue had said that as a part of the game he was very much willing to take the dare. So that left you, Red, Sans, and Stretch as Papyrus was still meticulously picking blades of grass. Couple more spins and another full drink when the bottle lands on you. Someone asks you truth or dare and absently you say dare. Then realizing what you’ve said you look up to see Red giving you a devilish grin.

 

“well then, doll, hows ‘bout singing the filthiest song ya got on your phone.”

 

Inhibitions pretty much out the window, you pull out your phone.

 

“Sure, which one? Pick one, two, or three. Idk which would be considered the filthiest.”

 

“two then.”

 

You nod and stand up and stretch, pulled your hair out from inside the hoodie you were wearing. You scrolled through your songs and found the one you wanted. Turning it on and soon an electric guitar started rocking out the first notes.

  
  


_ You think your life is done he took it all with him _

_ So you drink enough for it to wash away the sin _

_ Such a shitty thing he did, the way he said goodbye _

_ You can take it out on me if you like _

  
  


You bend partially and run the back of your hands up your sides and straighten up as you then twist them into your hair as the singer held out the word “like”. 

  
  


_ Fuck away the pain, erase him from your brain _

_ Fake it like you love me, Come on baby touch me _

_ Show me where it hurts, this dirty little curse _

_ Don't have to be ashamed if you wanna scream my name _

_ While I fuck away the pain _

  
  


You slowly moved down till you were on your knees on the floor.

  
  


_ You hate the way he fooled around behind your back _

_ A slave to him but now with me, no strings attached _

_ But if you wanna use me up and leave me in the bed _

_ If that's what you need go right ahead _

 

_ Fuck away the pain, erase him from your brain _

_ Fake it like you love me, Come on baby touch me _

_ Show me where it hurts, this dirty little curse _

_ Don't have to be ashamed if you wanna scream my name _

_ While I fuck away the pain _

  
  


Music interlude you swayed back and forth playing with your hair, rolling your head around in a circle. You reach over and take another drink, just before the bridge comes in.

  
  


_ Stronger than a shot of whiskey or any pill you take _

 

_ Fuck away the pain, erase him from your brain _

_ Fake it like you love me, Come on baby touch me _

_ Show me where it hurts, this dirty little curse _

_ Don't have to be ashamed if you wanna scream my name _

_ While I fuck away the pain erase him from your brain _

_ Fake it like you love me, Come on baby touch me _

_ Show me where it hurts, this dirty little curse _

_ Don't have to be ashamed if you wanna scream my name _

_ While I fuck away the pain _

 

_ Fuck away the pain _

 

_ While I fuck away the pain _

  
  


The song ends and you really don’t remember anything that happened after that.

 

• • • * • • •

 

They all watched as you pretty much passed out after finishing your dare. No one moved, not quite knowing what to do. Stretch leaned back and ran a hand over his face then looked over at Red.

 

“you’ve been fucking waiting for that all night haven't you? this why you kept filling her drinks when she wasn’t looking? seriously?”

 

Stretch stood up and moved over to where you lay, now snoring on the floor. He knew in any normal situation, you were far too shy to pull of something like what had just happened. He gently started gathering you up, but Black stood up and glared at him.

 

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, ASHTRAY? DO NOT THINK FOR ONE SECOND THAT I WILL ALLOW YOU TO TELEPORT AWAY WITH HER TO HAVE ALL TO YOURSELF.”

 

He stomped his foot and snapped his fingers, causing Rus, who had been sequestered on the stairs, to teleport next to him and put his hand on your wrist and growling at Stretch.

 

“first off, fuck you, pipsqueak. you don’t have any claim on her either. in fact, none of us do, so don’t feel like your lordliness is going to have any weight on the current situation. secondly, let go of her mutt… I’m going to put her back in her room and then come right back. feel free to come along if you don’t trust me.”

 

“that’s enough! all of you!”

 

Sans… or Classic as they often called him, stepped forward, silencing their fighting.

 

“stretch, get her back to her room. rus, go get papyrus, and red, text blue and tell him the game is over and that we need him to come back. I think it’s time we all sat down and talked about this.”

 

Stretch nodded and teleported to your apartment. He easily got you into your room. A slight smirk appeared on his face as he saw the mess it was in. At first, he considered whether to take his hoodie back. But decided not too, instead, he took your hoodie that he had wrapped around his shoulders and hung it up on the back of your door before teleporting out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da, next chapter up sooner. Next chapter should be all from the skeletons perspective.
> 
>  
> 
> [Soul's Song Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/galaxy-of-eden/playlist/1kGngMlwbOInSI2UJCeFVI?si=4NL6SO_cQ6-rs61cp2X0_g)


	9. Fractured Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thankfully without you in the picture for the moment, maybe Sans can get the group together to agree with how to move forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in this Chapter: None

When Stretch teleported back to the living room the tension in the air was aggressively palpable. Both Blue and Papyrus were back and looked both confused and concerned. Heads snapped to look at him, obviously taking in the fact that he was without his signature hoodie. Ignoring the obviously scathing glare from Black, he walked over to his brother and put a hand on his shoulder, silently trying to comfort and reassure him.

 

Classic seemed to be taking charge of the situation, standing prominently in the middle of the room looking everyone over. He nodded at Stretch as he passed by then gave everyone a chance to settle, but it only seemed to heighten the tension.

 

“right, so i think we need to discuss this whole situation. we’ve barely been here over a month and you all are practically at each other's throats. now, were going to settle this now before she gets hurt, understood?”

 

His voice was low and threatening, his hands were stuffed into the pockets of his hoodie and his eyes were an inky black void. He turned and stared at the wall, then closed his eye sockets and took a deep breath in then let it out slowly.

 

“look, i understand how hard it is with all of us here, and it's been a hard time adjusting, but this is how our worlds are and we have to deal with it… for now. however, that does not give all of you permission to just... ” Classic stopped himself and took in a deep breath, his facial features molded into a tight frown as he seemed to be trying to form the right words.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The bottle spun and landed on you… ok maybe he had manipulated it to do so, but no one called him out on it. You called for truth and he asked you about changing your path. He knew you were often sad and depressed, he had seen that look in your eyes when you were left to your own thoughts, it was a familiar feeling and he wondered if you would say anything about it. He had also noticed that you might have had one or two drinks with the help of a certain red skeleton.

 

You were brief in your explanation at first, a mistake of youth long past. Curious, but he wasn’t going to press, but then of course, his brother stepped in to ask the question that he actually wanted to ask. His bro was cool like that.

 

From subsequent questions, he pieced a little bit together about you had dealt with some judgment and rejection in your past. Was that the source of your sadness?

 

Then… then… what the heck Red? He had been so glad Blue hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have been able to deal, but wow, he was sitting right next to you during that entire song, and damn you were even wearing his hoodie the entire time. He felt like he shouldn’t watch but couldn’t take his eyes off of you. Part of him really wanted to stop you and pull you close to keep everyone else's eyes off of you, but that other carnal side might have sort of enjoyed it a bit too much.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Stretch needed a cigarette, bad. This whole situation really got on his nerves. It was hard enough not being able to use his own name, not being able to tell you his actual name hurt. Hearing you call someone else by that name. It was unfair. You had an effect on all of them, the second he had heard that melody he was hooked. It had been about a week after the last of them had arrived, and it had taken some time to track and follow it, but now that they were here and it was taking all that they could to contain themselves.

 

• • • * • • •

 

Black was furious. He felt like he was one of the ones who knew you the best from his reconnaissance and from Mutt’s findings. However, everyone else seemed to be on better terms with you. Even his brother had had a one on one with you! They had been one of the last to show up and the culture shock was the worst. He had standards and expectations as far as it came to humans. Honestly, he wanted nothing to do with them, but with his position as an officer of the royal guard a distant memory, he didn’t have much else for himself. Then you came along, you felt like a new goal, a new project, a new challenge to conquer, but everyone else was in the way.

 

Straightening himself up to his full height, he stared down his blue doppelganger, who both was and wasn’t him at the same time. He would not be intimidated by his tactics.

 

“WELL, WHAT SOLUTION IS THERE? WE ALL FEEL THIS CONNECTION AND IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT THIS HUMAN FEELS IT AS WELL BUT IS QUITE RELUCTANT TO ACT ON IT.”

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Black sat impatiently at his desk looking over his notes once again. Human’s were very strange when it came to leaving personal information out where anyone could find it. He would never tell the Mutt this, but he had done quite a good job finding out all kinds of interesting tidbits about your the interwebs… or… whatever it was called. Despite the influx of information, you were also quite frustrating in that you did not really say much about yourself. Most of the information was also old, several years old in places. There were also old images, you in some strange attire, you with small humans, you with small beasts, you seemed to really enjoy a particularly type of small beast. You posted images of them constantly. The more recent images were of your apparent creations, he didn’t understand the necessity of such trivial pursuits.

 

There were a few old pictures that piqued his interest and he set those aside. He also had not been to happy to find out that your room was not a tidy place to be in, that would have to be remedied. 

 

Sitting up from his desk he went over to his bed and pulled a small box from underneath. Apparently Mutt had been able to find one item above all else that solidified his assumptions about you. He quickly looked at the door and listened. No one seemed to be around. Opening the box he pulled out the item in question. A wide smile played across his face. It was simple black leather, worn soft from use, with metal grommets and a metal ring at the front. To be honest, this collar was the best find Black could have ever asked for.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Currently, Black folded his arms and shifted on his feet, if things got any worse things could end up in an all out brawl. He could feel the crackling of magic in the air. He had quickly placed himself in the most advantageous position, with the Mutt growling at his side, but they had lost the advantage of getting you away from the others the second the Ashtray had scooped you up and taken you to your room, or so he said. Black continued to stare at the others with a deep distrust, his fingers twitching at every small movement. He was ready for just about anything.

 

• • • * • • •

 

Papyrus hadn’t really been filled in on what had happened while he had been outside fulfilling his dare. But from what he could put together, you were no longer in the room and there was a tense atmosphere of magic in the air, something had gone down and Stretch had taken you away. He hoped you were alright. He felt the need to chime in. After Black practically shouted at his brother, Papyrus, quieter than normally spoke up.

 

“I Do Not Think That Is Our Place To Make The Decision For Miss Y/N. Yes, We All Feel The Same, But She Needs To Make The Decision On Her Own.”

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Papyrus was just getting back from a brisk morning jog, even if there was no royal guard, he continued to train to be in tip-top condition. He liked their new home, the snow reminded him of Snowdin, though it was certainly colder than his old home. He was quite happy with his new neighbors. You were a delight and you enjoyed puzzles, what more could he ask for in a new friend? Speaking of you, he turned the corner and saw you exiting you home down the street. You seemed to be in a rush and were carrying several different bags and items in your hands. You seemed to be struggling a bit to get into your vehicle.

 

“GREETINGS MISS Y/N!”

 

You jumped at his voice as you almost dropped something wrapped in plastic under your arm. You gasped as you dropped the bag in your other hand to prop up what you almost dropped. 

 

Papyrus slowed down as he approached you and soon noticed that you had very dark circles under your heavily lidded eyes. His browbone knotted with concern as you looked over at him with a very tired smile.

  
  


“Oh, morning Papyrus, didn’t see you there.”

 

“MISS Y/N, DO YOU REQUIRE ASSISTANCE?” 

  
  


You slowly blinked and took a long second to reply.

 

“Oh, oh! Yeah… yes, um, yes If you could grab my backpack I dropped… Oh shi--...sugar, that has my camera in it! Oh god, I hope I didn’t break it!”

 

You looked extremely distressed as you glanced back over at the bag you had dropped.

 

“NEVER FEAR, MISS Y/N, THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS HERE TO HELP.”

 

Reaching out he picked up the bag off the ground then grabbed another bag hanging off your shoulder. You looked visibly relieved as you clutched the item you had almost dropped.

 

“Oh my god, thank you, I had no idea how I was going to get into my car. If you don’t mind holding those for a second, I just have to make sure this is secured so it doesn’t break.”

 

Whatever the item was you were handling it with extreme care as you ducked down into the front passenger seat. You then came around and grabbed the rest of your items (first checking if the items in the bag you dropped were ok.) You heaved a heavy sigh as you packed up your car then came back around to the sidewalk. 

 

“Thanks, I would have been absolutely destroyed if I dropped my art piece, I’ve been working on it for two weeks and it’s due today, no way was I going to lose the chance of it getting into the student show.”

 

“IT WAS NO PROBLEM, MISS Y/N. NOTHING IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

 

He said as he struck a heroic pose.

 

“NYEH-HEH-HEH!”

 

You laughed softly as you stood up on your tiptoes and gave him a hug around the neck. He froze slightly, the gesture was unexpected but not… unwelcome.

 

“Nah, I really mean it, your a life-saver Paps, thank you.”

 

He stuttered trying to regain his mental footing, but you quickly let go and hopped into your car.

 

“Have a good day Papyrus, see ya around?”

 

“EH? Y-YES MISS Y/N.”

 

He stood there and waved as you drove off.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

He fidgeted with his scarf, his eyes going back and forth between the different people in the room, but his gaze continually kept returning to his brother, who had yet to respond to the conversation.

 

• • • * • • •

 

Red was frustrated, he couldn’t give a damn what these clowns thought. He was completely ignoring the currently conversation. Let them squabble and fight amongst themselves, he knew you’d pick him. You knew what he was like and hadn’t turned him away. It would take time but you would be something to call his own, no way was he going to share you. 

 

His eye sockets completely blacked out, he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets, maybe… maybe he had pushed you a little bit too far tonight. He just wanted you to loosen up, you seemed like the kinda gal who didn’t open up without a little… nudge in the right direction. He hadn’t been wrong and god damn he absolutely did not regret that dare.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Red watched you from the other side of the club. You and your group looked very out of place in comparison to the rest of the patrons in skimpy outfits. He had happened to see you pull up to this club while on his way back from checking out some of the local bars. He knew this was his chance to finally get some one on one with you. You had basically met everyone else, even Boss, and you still had yet to let him get a word in edgewise!

 

He grumbled from his corner, apparently you and your ‘friends’ were not planning on going out on the dance floor. How the heck was he going to get you alone if you just spent all your fucking time tucked into a corner table at a freaking club?

 

He grew more agitated the longer you stayed in your seat….

…

…

Fuck it! He downed his drink in one go and was about to make his move before he saw a very drunk woman head over to you. You seemed to have been abandoned by you little group and the drunk woman was now pushing you onto the dance floor. Aw heck, you looked so terrified. You tried to push your way out but kept jerking away from people. One dude seemed to try and make a pass at you but you shrunk away from the touch. You looked like you were panicking. Welp, time to go save ya.

 

Pushing his way through, he made his way right next to you. You were doubled over hands on your head, breath coming out in short gasps.

 

“ey, you ok there doll?”

 

He reached out a hand tentatively to your shoulder, but you didn’t shy away, if fact you turned and clung to him and gasped out for you to help. Well, hell, how could he say no to that timid plea?

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

• • • * • • •

 

Rus stood next to his Lordship, growling slightly every once in a while. Why did he listen to this… vanilla version of his brother? Maybe it was just his instincts kicking in but at the same time he had not been able to fulfill a direct order from M’Lord. He did not like that the pansy version of himself had taken you away. He had royally messed up with you, but he was trying to gain your favor. He hated how close you seemed with some of the others. He was just teasin’ ya, especially after finding that old, worn paper in your room with little hearts drawn on the sides and certain lines of text highlighted, he had taken it and read it over and over several times. At first he had thought it was some other language but after searching he was able to understand the context better. Then you had just shown up at your window and the opportunity had just been perfect. Yet, no he pushed it too far and you now avoided him. Today he had sat on the stairs, far away, like a kicked dog. You hadn’t even looked at him once, he didn’t get a chance to speak with you.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Rus followed the sounds coming from downstairs, the silent melody was practically reverberating off the walls, calling everyone down to the living room. He couldn’t see your face from the base of the stairs and you were sitting with your back up against the couch. Your hair looked so soft and your laugh was high and musical. He was transfixed, punch drunk. It took him a few seconds to silently slip into a seat on the couch behind you. You were so caught up in you game to even notice his presence. He watched your game, you played decently but you tended to think too long about your next move.

 

He leaned down and suggested a move. Out of the corner of his one good eye he saw you react with a visible shiver and a slight bite at your lower lip. Ah, apparently you could be affected just as much as you affected everyone else. Then those eyes turned towards him, those large expressive eyes. Damn, he could get lost in those eyes forever if you’d let him.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Rus kept his hood up to cover his face as he watched his brother’s twitching fingers out of the corner of his eye. One silent signal and they’d be gone, there was no way he would fail his Lordship’s commands this time.

 

• • • * • • •

 

Blue had been concerned at the beginning of the conversation, but as more and more subtle and not so subtle things were said, his face surprisingly adopted a very serious expression. In the short time they had been here you had become very important to him. At first you had been taken aback by his boisterous personality, then had started to treat him as most others did with caution about certain subjects, but now you didn’t look at him like he was a child that needed to be protected but as if you were on an even playing field. 

 

Stars above he wanted to spend every precious second with you, you were a breath of fresh air to him. As much as he loved his brother, sometimes he felt smothered by him, he wanted a chance to be allowed to spread his proverbial wings and make his own choices and you were his first choice.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Blue held your hand in his one boney ones as if it was something made of glass rather than flesh. It flabbergasted him that underneath your soft exterior were bones similar to his own, but very much weaker. It confused him that humans were both so powerful yet so weak at the same time. They were fierce yet delicate. Your hand looked so much smaller than he thought at first. He flipped it back and forth gently taking in every tiny detail. There was a slight discoloration across the palm which confused him. He traced the lines in your palm and watched as those lines folded in when you slightly opened and closed your hand.

 

He didn’t want to let you go, he wanted to know more, he wanted you to tell him more. Yet, the moments slipped away before anything else could be asked or answered.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Adopting the same lower cadence as Papyrus, Blue added his view to the conversation.

 

“I Agree With Classic Paps, We Can Go Round And Round, But I Sense That A Few Here Are Less Inclined To Hear What We Have To Say. I Will Not Allow Anyone To Harm Y/N, I Will Personally Dust Whoever Tries.”

• • • * • • •

 

Edge was just pissed in general, out of everyone here he spoke to you the least. You were weak and pathetic, you did not know how to fight or defend yourself. You were far to trusting and kind. He would never admit this to anyone, not a single soul but you unnerved him. He couldn’t see your soul, but the way it radiated he could feel the kindness rolling off of you. It was too unpredictable so he chose to keep a stoney appearance when around you. Well, except for that one time.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Edge had been told of a human store that sold a diverse selection of food types and had just started including monster food. It guaranteed to have whatever fresh food or ingredient one could desire. He had decided that he would go there to appraise whether his place of trade was worthy of his patronage.

 

It certainly was...different from other human stores, but it was a bit too crowded for his own liking. Thankfully most humans tended to give him a wide berth, as they should. That was until someone walk backward into him. He had turned on that person ready to figuratively rip their head off, but at first his words caught in his throat as he saw your face staring up at him.

 

“Oh, Edge, I-I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. You ok?”

 

Recovering quickly, he raised himself up to his full height (in heels) and harrumphed.

 

“A PATHETIC EXCUSE, I , THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE, AM NOT ONE TO BE EASILY MISSED.  YOU NEED TO BE MORE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS, HUMAN.”

People around them jumped and flinch at his raised voice, yes, worthless humans, fear him, grovel in terror at the mere sight of him! His eyes quickly flicked back to you but noticed that you were surprisingly not alone. Two smaller humans were staring at him with their jaws hanging open. He narrowed his eye sockets. Were these your brood? For a second, a pang of jealousy shot through him. Who had dared touch you!

 

You seemed to catch him staring at the two and quickly coughed to get his attention.

 

“Um, Edge, these are my nieces, Louise and Annette. Girls, this is Edge, my...uh, my neighbor.”

 

Edge was a bit confused as the two brought their hands up and waved. The one on your left, the taller one had a slightly more neutral expression while the one on your right had bright eyes and a wide smile on their face. He looked back and forth at the two then back at you.

 

“THESE ARE NOT YOUR… YOUR HUMAN CHILDREN?”

 

Your eyes got wide at that expression, then so did your smile as you laughed slightly.

 

“Well, yes and no, they are mine in that they are my family, but they are my older sister’s kids. We’re out shopping for dinner and dessert ingredients.

 

“Yeah!” The smiley one was talking now. “Auntie said she’d show us how to make our Nana’s lasagna recipe and then we’re going to make and decorate cupcakes!”

 

The more neutral one rolled their eyes and shifted where they stood.

 

Temporary sidetracked, the only thing that stuck out to Edge was your choice of pasta.

 

“SO, HUMAN, YOU ARE A CONNOISSEUR OF THE ART OF PASTA? YOURS PROBABLY CANNOT COMPARE TO THAT OF MY GREAT AND TERRIBLE SELF… But… SOMETIME I SHOULD TEST YOUR ABILITIES TO SEE IF YOU ARE WORTHY OF LEARNING FROM THE BEST!”

 

“Uhhhhhhh… sure?”

 

“VERY WELL THEN.”

 

And with that he had taken what he had picked out and had stormed away, to frazzled to try and continue the conversation.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

• • • * • • •

 

Talk, talk, talk, talk, this whole thing was so exhausting to have to deal with. Sans hated to have to deal with all of these odd and eccentric personalities. Some were just to eerily close, and their being here was partially his fault. There were to many of him and his brother in one reality, and to make matters both better and terribly worse at the same time, there was you. It was like fate had given him the sweetest gift then laughed in his face as he realized that everyone else was fighting and vying for your attention.

 

It was incredibly frustrating, and right now it was hard to get a word in edgewise. He just wanted things to be done and over with, send all of these alternate versions away to their own worlds so that he could settle into some semblance of normalcy. But no, he had to take charge, he had to constantly keep everyone from tearing out someone else's spines that he barely had a moment to try and speak with you.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It had been a year ago about a week after Rus and Black had shown up. It had been very difficult explaining to the two, especially Black, about how things worked in this reality and what they could and couldn’t do. Thankfully Edge and Red came from a somewhat similar world so he had had previous experience with their type.

 

Flopping onto his bed in the small room in his home outside of Mount Ebott, he sighed deeply. He just wanted to sleep, he didn’t want to have to deal with the fighting and bickering over every meaningless detail. Groaning, he kicked off his slipper and peeled off his sweater and dropped it off the side of the bed. Thankfully he was tired enough to fall asleep quite quickly.

 

As the heavenly quit and darkness of sleep enveloped him, he allowed his bones to relax. In sleep there was no worry, there were no care, he’d rather deal with the nightmares right now than the others. But as time went on, no visions of his past dared to enter his subconscious. Instead, softly, a soft tune began to worm its way into his mind. At first the color red dance and swirled in his head, not menacing, but strong and intriguing. Next another tune came along to harmonize with the first, a contrasting green that soft and comforting. Next, a third harmonizing line joined the first two, purple with its rich and sweet tones. Lastly, a light blue with a pleasant and lilting harmony to round of the song in his mind.

 

Waking up the next morning, he had been confused by what he had seen and heard. What did they actually mean?

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

“ENOUGH.”

 

They all stopped, finally. He pivoted and looked over their small group. He breathed in, then let it out again, steeling himself.

 

“i think we need to set some ground rules. at least for her sake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'ello lovlies, here we go with the skeleton's perspectives. It took a bit longer since I had to figure out how I wanted to structure this. but, I'm pretty happy with the final product. I have a better idea for a plan with where to move forward too. It's definitely different than what I had originally planned but I certainly think this is something that not a lot of people tackle when it comes to these forms of Undertale fanfiction. 
> 
> Also, it's funny trying to keep each character straight, especially when I was switching perspectives every couple of paragraphs. If it's too confusing, let me no and I'll go back in and edit in names as to which perspective is who's at the start of each section.
> 
> Again, thank you all for the lovely comments and I will start working on the next chapter soon.


	10. *They Haunt's All my Dreams*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are eyes that follow you in the dark, they are familiar yet strange and unseen  
> You can't see their faces but you can feel them, those who haunt your dreams  
> The ones you wish you could open up to in reality but you're too afraid to.  
> How can they stand there, a whisper from you and yet still feel so far away?
> 
>  
> 
> Then you find somewhere new with its new dangers. You need to get out... now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in this Chapter: None
> 
> (But I had this [Music](https://youtu.be/22MpXAD_uwU) playing while I was writing it)
> 
>  
> 
> ALSO, **'s in the title means that we are getting a more Mature section, its not suuuuuper explicit but here's something for all y'all sinners, you've been waiting for it. :3 ((For future reference, the more ** the more explicit.) If you wanna skip, scroll down to past the dashes.

It was so dark yet familiar, you’d been here so many times before in this inky black void. It was a blank sheet, a place with no expectations, you could just be. Here in the darkness and in your loneliness, it felt like you had been wandering for ages, not a change to anything around you. It was even hard to tell if you were even moving. Were you up or down? How were you on solid ground if you couldn’t see it? Did things just go on like this forever or were you just suspended in one place forever? Either way, you just kept going on and on… on and on… on and on…

 

      on and on…

 

            on and on…

 

                  on and on…

 

                        on and on…

 

                              on and…

 

                                    on…

 

                                          …

 

                                                …

 

                                                      Who were you, again?

  
  


You stopped and blinked. Why could you not remember? Had it been that long? Had things always been like this? Was this place the only thing you actually knew? looking first left then right, then down at yourself. You were wearing a long grey shift dress with cap sleeves that hung awkwardly off of your shoulders. You blinked slowly again and looked up to see just barely there, an outline of a black door. Curious, you instinctively reached out and opened the door. More darkness on the other side.

 

You step through.

 

You gasped as you looked and saw a colorful array of twinkling, star-like lights above you. Whites, reds, blues, and others winked down at you as you reached up towards them. If you could just touch one of them, then you could go on forever in the void, perfectly content. They looked so close yet somehow seemed so far away. You stretched up as high as you could onto your tiptoes and at last felt something lightly brush against your fingertips. You tried to grasp it, but it continued to remain just out of your reach.

 

You let out a small cry of despair, dropping down you felt yourself welling up as you looked up once again. They were closer now and all around you instead of overhead. You tentatively reach out again. You couldn’t touch the lights but suddenly what felt like another hand touched and intertwined its fingers in yours. You didn’t seem surprised by this but gently pulled trying to see whoever was there in the darkness.

 

Nothing.

 

You felt another hand against your cheek, soft and tender. You lean into it, closing your eyes with a sigh. You felt safe. Something rested against your forehead, it felt like a kiss, chaste and questioning. You lifted your face, opening your eyes but still seeing nothing. Another hand was placed on your hip and a finger ran it’s way down your spine. You shivered. Another set of hands on a thigh and your waist, more joined. Everything was being touched. Some touched softly, others were rough, some stroked and soothed, others pinched and prodded. There was grabbing, massaging, petting, restraining, but not a single touch was cruel or harmed you. 

 

Slowly, ever so slowly, the shift you are wearing is tugged and pulled off your shoulders and you feel it slide off of you, pooling at your feet. Your eyes close again and you let out a groan as the touches continue, more earnest and explorative. You felt as if you had been laid bare, there was nothing left to hide, you were at the mercy of the dark and the void, the stars and the hands. 

 

There were and were not voices, deep and rumbling, high and sharp, calm, excited, nervous, confident… hesitant. They were so familiar, you know them... who are they? They whispered and growled in your ear, you understood without understanding.

 

Something pent up and repressed was growing in the very core of your being, it wished… no, it demanded to be let out. Brazen hands lay you down and spread you open. A wanton, needy moan escaped from you, no longer were these touches chaste, now there was more of an intent. Now every brush of a sharp finger, every time your skin was pinched, everything seemed to push you further and further, it felt like lightning dancing across your skin,m. You were slowly being wound up tighter and tighter, until with the most hedonistic scream you came undone. Writhing as wave after wave rolled off you. 

 

Then with a sharp pain to go with the pleasure, you felt a bite. You could feel sharp fang-like teeth sink into the flashiest part of your shoulder, near the base of your neck.

 

And then it was over.

 

The hands were gone, the lights were gone, your clothing was gone, and you were left with a mix of pain and pleasure in the darkness of the void.

 

You lay there, you didn’t know how long, staring up from your back at the non-existent sky or ceiling. You felt… empty.

 

You stood up and continued on.

on and on…

on and on…

on and on…

on and on…

on and on…

on and on…

on and on…

on and…

on...

…

…

…

…

 

How long was it? A day? A week? Months? Years? Centuries? A millennium? Time was irrelevant. The only thing now was the endless darkness once again.

 

A shiver ran down your back… and not a pleasant shiver. You felt eyes without seeing them, taking across your form. No, you shouldn’t linger, so you ran, ran without actually going anywhere. There was a sense of being pursued.  Fear now gripped your stomach, you needed to get away, needed to feel safe again. You chance a look over your shoulder. A silhouette, somehow darker than even the void around you, walked slowly being you. No… two shapes now follow you, now three, now four.

 

You had to get away. These were beings you most certainly did not know and did not want to know.

 

Running, running, running, stumbling, gasping, clawing, you couldn’t stop, you shouldn’t… you wouldn’t….. you… you were so tired. You kept saying one more step, just a little bit further. You could make it away if you just kept taking one more step.

 

…

 

…

 

Then you bumped into the darkness. You flinched, it felt like heavy velvet curtains. You wished you could have studied them longer, but instead you pulled and pushed them aside, dashing past them.

  
  


You blinked, trying to adjust to the soft, yet dark light of the room you were in. In was a large square room, black velvet curtains hung and draped from the ceiling on every inch of the walls. The floor was a two-toned, off-grey tile in an intricate swirling pattern. It stopped in the center of the room where a round circle of black tiles finished the design. 7 chairs were arranged along the edge of the circle, but only four were upright, while three were knocked over onto their sides. Other than that the room was empty.

 

You hesitantly took another step into the room, then another. You walked to the back of one chair and lightly ran a hand across the back.

  
  


((“Curiouser and curiouser still.”)) 

 

[[“Well, well, well, what have we here?”]] 

 

{{“What is this, what do I see? A human trying to flee!”}} 

 

<<“Fffascinatiiing… a specimen worth examining.”>> 

  
  


No…

 

From the four corners of the room, you could hear voices but could not see their origins. Disembodied, garbled, unintelligible, but you still understood.

  
  


((“And how did you wander into this place, my dear? Are you the disturbance we’ve been feeling?”))

 

[[“You can’t run, little doll. There is nowhere you can hide that I can’t find you.”]]

 

{{“Please stay, please stay, forget the past and come and play!”}}

 

<<“Oh, ho, ho, ho, little poppet you’re stuck in a web, hope is waning, watch your blood ebb.”>>

  
  


You slowly walk backward toward the center of the room, looking every which way, hoping for some small sign of who or what was near. You trip and fall onto the tile, and a sickly greyish glow with a hint of green fills the room. You need to leave… you need to leave… YOU NEED TO LEAVE!!

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

You wake up with a start, in a cold sweat, and extremely horny. What the hell kind of dream were you having? It was something about… you remember something like… maybe if you just… aaaaaand nope, there it went, gone. You couldn’t remember a thing. Now here you were, dealing with the aftermath. Should you just… like… take care of it? You sat up slightly, and your movement made you catch a familiar scent: cigarettes, something slightly metallic, and honey. You looked down and saw that you were wearing Stretch’s hoodie still. 

 

Oh… OH! God damn it! You had drunk too much last night, you barely remember playing a game and switching your hoodie with him then you sang something than… nothing. You groaned and rubbed your head as it started to pound. You thought you’d only had like one or two drinks? You weren't a lightweight, but maybe you had more than you realized?

 

You flopped back down onto your bed, reflexively pulling the hood up over your head. You hated cigarettes, but why did it now feel so comforting? And god you were still horny! Headache and horny were not a good combination, it left you frustrated.

 

Slowly, ever so slowly, you peeled yourself out of bed and staggered your way to the pantry for some painkillers. Maybe… maybe for once you’d take the extra, extra-strength pain killers you had leftover? Popping one in, you drank like, two and a half glasses of water. Now it was time to play the waiting game.

 

You go to the bathroom. Hopefully, a cold shower can get rid of your… other problem. You reluctantly stripped off the orange hoodie, hanging it up on the hook behind the door. Stepping under the cold water, you close your eyes and shiver and let your thoughts wander. Why couldn’t you remember that dream? At the time you knew it was the most lifelike and realistic dream you’ve ever had in your life. Was it one of those weird dreams you had where you’d remember it later after something from the dream triggered in reality? What if was something brought on by the alcohol and the smell of Stretch’s hoodie? Maybe it was better to not remember.

 

Turning off the water you patted yourself dry, letting your shower thoughts dissipate as you got ready for the day. Glancing up, you caught yourself in the mirror. Staring for a second you sigh, despite everything that’s happened… well, you are still you.

 

Without another thought, you got dressed and grabbed the orange hoodie off the back of the door. For a split second, you thought about putting it on, but no, you had to give it back. You stood there holding it for a second in your room, then brought it up to your face and just let the smell envelop you for just a couple of seconds longer. Ok, you were honestly being a little creepy, and for the rest of your life, you would never tell a soul about what you just did. Sighing, you stepped out and made your way downstairs to your neighbors.

 

You honestly didn’t even know if they were home, wait… what time was it even? You pulled out your phone… ok, twelve past one, Stretch would probably would at least be awake by now, Blue might be out? Finally getting the courage, you knocked on the door, the sweater neatly folded and tucked under your arm. You waited for a second… nothing. You knocked again, a little bit louder. Was that a grunt you heard? You chuckled, maybe it was still too early for Stretch to be up. You knocked a third time, slightly louder.

 

“Hey anyone home? Knock knock!”

 

There was another groan then some grumbling along with the shuffling of feet.

 

“who’s there?”

 

Oooo, knock knock jokes, uh uh uh uh… shoot you weren’t prepared.

 

“Cher!”

 

You blurt out, oh no, now you knew exactly where you were going with this.

 

A pause…

 

“cher who?”

 

You smiled a Cheshire grin and tried to put on your best impression for the final line.

 

“Cher would be nice if you opened the door!”

 

Oh go your Cher impression was terrible, but that was half the fun. Hopefully, he got the reference.

 

You heard a chuckle on the other side of the door.

 

“knock knock.”

 

“Who’s there?”

 

“theodore”

 

“Theodore Who?”

 

“theodore is stuck and it won’t open.”

 

“Nooooooo, don’t make me kick the door down Stretch! I need to give this back to you.”

 

“aw, sorry hun, guess i’m a bit of a _shut-in_  today.”

 

“But Stretch, your fate  _ hinges _ on what you choose to do right now!”

 

A deep, rich laughter from the other side of the door. You don’t know how your smile could get even bigger, but it does as the door opens. Then your insides completely flip flop. Don’t panic, don’t break eye contact, it’s just Stretch without his signature hoodie, cause you’re the one who has it. It is also not helping that he is leaning oh so casually on the doorframe. Damn…

 

His laughing stops and he reaches up to wipe away a tear that had appeared in his eyesocket.

 

“ahhh, have i ever said how  _ a-door-able _ you are?”

 

Yeah, nope, not touching that comment with a ten-foot pole. You tried to force a relaxed smile and pulled the hoodie out from under your arm and held it out to him.

 

“I think your dare is over, um, I’m assuming it was you who got me back to my room, seeing as my hooding was hanging up behind my door. Sorry about that… If I said anything weird while I was drunk, listen, I’m not me when I’m drunk… I’m either a complete bitch, a crybaby, or waaaaaaay too confident for my own good.”

 

He shrugged, reaching out and taking his hoodie from you.

 

“don’t worry ‘bout it, you were fine. we just got a bit concerned when you passed out, but looks like you’re ‘lright, so no harm no foul.”

 

He pushed off the door frame and in one fluid motion, pulled the hoodie up and over his skull. There, now things were back to normal and you were definitely not checking your neighbor out. You fidgeted in the doorway for a second, realizing that you had something else to ask but you could not remember for the life of you what it was.

 

“cat gotcha tongue there, hun?”

 

“Hmmm? Uh yeah, I guess. I remembered that I wanted to ask you and Blue something but honestly, I don’t remember what it is… it’s practically on the tip of my tongue.”

 

You furrowed your brow as you stared at the ground trying to think through everything that had happened recently to try and trigger your memory. You pulled out your phone and flipped through your calendar and messages. Oh, there it was!

 

“Got it! So my sister invited me to a little town fair a couple of towns over. It’s set up at the park. Apparently, they come every year during spring break, it got here a couple of days ago and it will be set up for about another week. I was going to ask Blue if he was interested, but I gueeeesss I can see if I can squeeze another free ticket into the deal. Basically, it’s a glorified babysitting day for me. Both of my older sisters and my brother-in-laws want to go out on a double-date and I said I’d watch the kids. I figured Blue would like it sooo… yeah…”

 

You were rambling and muddling your explanation at this point, but you had begun to bounce up and down excitedly. You don’t really know why you were so excited, but you had kind of sort of promised your nieces to introduce them to more of your monster neighbors after that one run in with Edge. You were strangely proud to show off your neighbors. People in the North East could be a bit tight-lipped and judgemental. You wanted to break that stereotype.

 

• • • * • • •

 

Stretch was super nervous when he realized that you were at the door. After things had settled down last night, there had been some tentative rules set up that the majority had agreed to. There were a few dissenters, but in the end, the majority ruled. He had been surprised when Edge had broken the tie he had been so sure would happen. 

 

And now here you were, handing over his hoodie and asking if he and Blue wanted to go out with you. He took a second to appear like he was thinking, he could see the bright anticipation on your face. Heh, you really were adorable.

 

“sure, sounds like it could be fun. i’ll let Blue know, i think we’re free.”

 

Rule number one: Let you decide how you wanted to do things first. You needed to make the first move, they needed to be patient and not all gang up on you. This was a good enough first move right? And he was pretty sure this invitation had only been extended to him and his brother. So in a way, they had a leg up on the others now. Stretch smiled inwardly.

 

You let out the breath you had been holding.

 

“Great! I can drive us there. I think this’ll be fun!”

 

“nice, let us know the time and we need to bring anything.”

 

“Ok, I’m glad you can come, I promise my nieces and nephews are pretty cool.”

 

“So how many of them are there?”

 

You gave a coy smile as you shrug your shoulders slightly.

 

“Oh, not a lot… just seven.”

 

Oh...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyyyy, surprise! Double chapter in only a few days! I got really excited and motivated to write and now that I know where the story is going. I still need to make a general outline so that I can stay on track, but either way, I'm excited and I hope y'all are too! Hopefully, I'll get around to getting the next chapter up within a week or so. I really like country fairs, and we get to see more of Reader's family (which is something I notice that not a lot of fictions tackle, I think it can be fun!)
> 
> Anyway... hope all you lovelies (sinners) are having a good weekend! See ya soon!


	11. I Wish To Go To The Festival!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get ready to go to the fair and Stretch and Blue get bombarded by human children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in this Chapter: "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"- The Proclaimers
> 
> (Also over 100 pages written in the Google Doc, Woo!)

A couple of days later after a couple of back and forth texts later, things were all set for your trip to the fair. It was now getting well into the springtime season, and it was surprisingly comfortable outside, not too hot and especially not too cold. You were currently pulling out your summer clothes from a tub in the closet, time to get some sun on your legs which had barely seen the light of day in forever. Which also meant making them look more presentable. Normally you wouldn’t put as much thought into your outfit and appearance, usually doing enough to give you the appearance of possibly a bohemian lifestyle rather than a bum or homeless. 

 

You pulled out a pair of ripped cut-off jean shorts that just reached to about two-thirds of the way down your thighs, modest enough. A grey tank top with a dreamcatcher design on it and “Wild and Free” lettered above it. You grabbed your violet hoodie and tied it around your waist to finish things off. There, comfy and modest enough, with an option for if it got colder. As you double checked in the mirror, the thought crossed your mind to leave the hoodie behind and if it did get cold maybe you’d be able to “borrow” someone else’s? You shook your head, nope, just friends, they are your neighbors for heaven’s sake.

 

Sighing, you patted yourself down, double checking to make sure you had everything. Phone? Check! Keys? You looked around then grabbed them off the hook, ok check. Wallet? Back pocket, check. Cash in wallet…. ehhh, you had a couple of bucks, your sisters would probably give each kid some money to spend, you were just supervising, with friends. It originally was going to be you and your younger brother, but he had to back out due to a scheduling conflict with his classes. He had a mandated clinical that all nursing students had to attend, so he had sent along with an apology and that had been the beginning of your idea to ask one of your new friends downstairs to come along.

 

Grinning to yourself, you hopped your way down the front stairs and knocked out the beginning beats of “shave and a haircut” onto your neighbor's door. You bit your lower lip in anticipation, trying to not laugh as you waited. A quick shuffling and a loud exclamation, followed by to responding knocks on the other side of the door. Which opened immediately afterward.

 

“Evening neighbor, y’all ready to go?”

 

You remembered back to one time when Paps had asked why you used to word “y’all” sometimes rather than the grammatically correct “you all”. It had been funny for you because you honestly didn’t notice when you switched back and forth between the two phrases. 

 

\- “Oh, I lived in the south for a couple of years during the school months. I kind of picked it up from the locals.”-

 

Had been your response, which had sparked the conversation about the different accents in the country based on regional location. Sans butted in with some kind of pun saying “if it ain’t  _ brogue _ don’t fix it” and Paps had practically screamed afterward.

 

Back to the present, Stretch gave a bit of a crooked grin and nodded.

 

“bro should be ready in a second, he wasn’t quite sure what was appropriate to wear to one of these fairs.”

 

“Oh, um, ok. Casual usually works, it’s not like it’s a renaissance fair or a cosplay convention. Though some people might dress up if they are on a date or want to look like a roadie, if there’s a popular band there.”

 

Stretch shrugged and stepped aside, allowing you to step inside. Unlike the other house which tended to smell like pasta and condiments, here it reminded you of Mexican flavors and honey. Honey reminded you of home and it made you smile. Maybe that’s why you found Stretch’s hoodie so comforting? You plopped down on the sofa and pulled out your phone to check the time. Good thing you liked to be early, so you had about another five to ten minutes before you needed to leave.

 

Your tall friend flopped down onto the couch next to you, feet up on the small table in front of the couch. You reached over and swatted his hand.

 

“Nah, no falling asleep right now, you are impossible to wake up and we’re heading out that door in like six, seven minutes. I swear to Christ, I will leave you behind if you fall asleep.”

 

He let out a chuckle in response.

 

“ah, but just a light power nap. I can do that in five minutes.”

 

“Noooooo, no. I don’t trust you, mister.”

 

Then you reached over and gave his legs a shove off of the table, which caused him to awkwardly slump half off the couch.

 

“heh, alright, alright. no sleeping, i promise.”

 

“Good.”

 

You said matter-of-factory, crossing your arms over your chest. Thankfully at this point, Blue came bounding into the room, eyes bright with excitement. He had a shirt with bright lettering on it saying “Rad Dude” some blue shorts, and his signature scarf. It was so weird not seeing him in his “battle body” as he had corrected you once.

 

“Y/N! YOUR HERE! EXCELLENT, AS YOU CAN SEE I AM NOW READY FOR THIS EXCURSION TO THIS FAIR YOU HAVE INVITED US TOO!”

 

You couldn’t help but feel just as excited as he looked. You gave him a big smile and a hug as you got up.

 

“Awesome, Blue! So we’re going to my sister’s house first to switch out cars and pick up the kiddos. Then we’ll head to the fair.”

 

“ALRIGHT, THEN LET US MAKE HASTE! MWEH-HEH-HEH!”

 

He said as he picked you up and threw you over his shoulder. This cause you to gasp then let out a squeak of embarrassment as you grabbed at the back of Blue’s shirt.

 

“LOOK BROTHER! I HAVE CAPTURED A HUMAN AT LAST!”

 

Stretch let out a snort as he gave a thumbs up as he slowly pushed himself up off the floor.

 

“i’m sure she’s quite  _ captivating _ , bro. but she can’t drive if you’re holding onto her.”

 

Blue continued to giggle as he dashed out the front door with you in tow. You let out another squeak at the movement and shut your eyes right.

 

“Blueeeee, please put me down before I accidentally throw up!”

 

Your eyes were clenched shut when you felt Blue set you down. You opened one eye slowly and saw that he had set you down in front of your car. You let all of the tension go in you body as you looked over at Blue. He had a bit of a sheepish look on his face and he shifted from foot to foot.

 

“Hey, sorry Blue, you just caught me by surprise. Want to ride shotgun?”

 

He perked up immediately and nodded, running around to the passenger side. You looked over at Stretch who was slowly following along behind you.

 

“Guess you get the entire back seat all to your lonesome. It’s about a twenty-fiveish minute drive to my sister’s house so I gueeeeeess you can take a nap.”

 

You gave a sly grin as you unlocked the car and hopped in. Once everyone was situated, you turned the car on and began to pull out onto the street. As you did you happened to glance over at the other house and saw, just as you got onto the road, that both Black and Rus were walking out onto the porch. When they both saw you and the car and those in with you, Black got a surprised look on his face, then next a very sour one as he started to say something. You rolled down your window and waved to them.

 

“Hi, you two, see ya later.”

 

“HUMAN, WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH--”

 

You didn’t give him a chance to finish as you switched from reverse to drive and pulled off down the street.

 

You failed to notice the middle finger being flipped off at the two outside the car from the backseat.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

You spent most of the car ride talking to Blue about the fairs, what you knew about this one as well as other ones you had been to before. He seemed to really enjoy the idea of the different carnival games and quickly stated that he was going to try and beat them all. You were more excited about meeting your nieces and nephews, but you didn’t tell him that. They were probably going to be the easiest to introduce these two to. They were more open and accepting. Next, you were sure your sisters would be a bit unnerved, but wouldn’t do anything rude, maybe one or two visits and then they’d be ok with them. Your brother would probably be cool with them. You were pretty sure as a student in the medical field the idea of monster healing properties was fascinating to him. You knew that he had interacted with some monsters and from what he had told you, they all had been positive interactions. Your mom would probably be really, really hesitant, but would be polite. You Dad… you had absolutely no idea how he’d react. Oh, he’d be polite, but honestly, you’d probably have to have a whole different conversation with him at a later date to actually get his thoughts on the matter. You mentally shook yourself, baby steps… baby steps. Start with the kids.

 

“Hey, mind if I turn some music on?”

 

“THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN AMAZING IDEA, Y/N.”

 

You didn’t want to deal with trying to find a radio station. So you pulled up a playlist on your phone. It was mostly older tunes, that you mostly played at low volume while you chatted. That is until one song came on that had you grinning from ear to ear. It was a song your dad had introduced you to a long time ago and it just made you happy every time it came on. You quickly turned it up to sing along.

  
  


_ When I wake up, well I know I'm gonna be, _

_ I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next you _

_ When I go out, yeah I know I'm gonna be _

_ I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you _

 

_ If I get drunk, well I know I'm gonna be _

_ I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you _

_ And if I haver up, yeah I know I'm gonna be _

_ I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you _

  
  


You looked over at Blue as the chorus came along. You had a goofy grin on your face, but you could tell he was enjoying the song as well.

  
  


_ But I would walk 500 miles _

_ And I would walk 500 more _

_ Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles _

_ To fall down at your door _

 

_ When I'm working, yes I know I'm gonna be _

_ I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you _

_ And when the money, comes in for the work I do _

_ I'll pass almost every penny on to you _

 

_ When I come home (when I come home) well I know I'm gonna be _

_ I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you _

_ And if I grow-old (when I grow-old) well I know I'm gonna be _

_ I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you _

  
  


You were too busy to notice the way Blue was looking at you, completely enamored, with little heart shapes in his eye sockets.

  
  


_ But I would walk 500 miles _

_ And I would walk 500 more _

_ Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles _

_ To fall down at your door _

 

_ Da da da (da da da) _

_ Da da da (da da da) _

_ Da da da dun diddle un diddle un diddle uh da _

 

_ Da da da (da da da) _

_ Da da da (da da da) _

_ Da da da dun diddle un diddle un diddle uh da _

  
  


You didn’t have time to finish the song since at that time you pulled up into your sister’s driveway. 

  
  


_ When I'm lonely, well I know I'm gonna be _

_ I'm gonna be the man who's lonely without you _

_ And when I'm dreaming, well I know I'm gonna dream _

_ I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you _

  
  


They had a cute little two-story house that they all barely fit in. There were three cars parked in the main sections of the driveway, so you had to pull off to the side onto the grass. The song cutting out as you turned off the car. Hopping out, you made sure you had everything then asked Blue to poke Stretch to wake him up. You then turned and headed towards the house.

 

You didn’t need to knock, the door was unlocked so you just walked in.

 

“Hellloooooooo, I’m here!”

 

There were cries and giggles and the sound of running feet pounding down the stairs and most of the younger ones came barreling around the corner. You opened your arms and braced yourself for impact.

 

“Auntie, you're here, you're here!”

 

“Can we go now? I want to get to the ferris wheel!”

 

“I wanna get my face painted, do you think they have that there?”

 

You rolled your eyes and replied sarcastically. 

 

“Well, hello to all of you too, I’m great.”

 

You scooped as many as you could into a hug and tried to pick them up, but god they were too big for this now. They all giggled and were bouncing with anticipation until they all stopped and stared at something behind you. Turning, you saw Stretch slouched behind you, looking a bit nervous. You grinned as you turned back to the three in front of you.

 

“These are my downstairs neighbors. They’ve never been to a fair before, so I thought I’d bring them along.”

 

You scooted the kids further into the hall so that the two skeleton brothers could come into the house. Pointing to each, in turn, you introduced them.

 

“This is Stretch and his brother Blue. Guys, this is Michael, Eve, and Lucus. Michael and Lucus and brothers and Eve is their cousin.”

 

At this point, a couple of other people wandered their way into the front hallway. They all seemed a bit surprised at the newcomers on their doorstep, but you quickly jumped in to get everyone up to speed.

 

“Hey! So more introductions. This is my oldest niece, Louise, and the youngest, Reagan. The two over there in the dining room are Annette and Andrew. Kids, arrange yourself in family units so they can make sense of everything.”

 

With that, they all split into one group of four and one group of three. Then lastly, your sister’s showed up. You squealed slightly and gave each of them a hug. 

 

“This is my oldest sister, Diana, and my other older sister Ella.”

 

You really hoped you weren’t overwhelming these two. At least they were just meeting most of your immediate family. If they ever got the chance to meet your extended family… oooooh boy, would that be a struggle.

 

Blue seemed to take things in stride, coming up and shaking hands with anyone who would. The three younger boys seemed to immediately take a shine to him, and were asking him all kinds of questions… ok, maybe too many questions. You distinctly overheard someone asking how he held together without any muscles and you know someone asked him about monster magic and what he could do? Stretch seemed very overwhelmed, but hid it very well, he mumbled a hello to the kids and shook your sister’s hands. 

 

For a brief second, you felt a little… lackluster next to your sisters. Diana was small and had that petite motherly charm that drew a lot of people to her, and then there was your sister Ella. She was a bombshell, drop-dead gorgeous. She was extremely fit, average height, and had the most gorgeous set of fire-red curls which she maintained religiously. She had a lot of followers on Instagram and had a very lucrative job as a fitness coach. You felt like the extreme opposite of them. However you felt about yourself, you still adored and loved your sisters.

 

“Ahem, well, anyway… Di? Can we take the van? There is no way that I’m fitting ten people into my little five-seater.”

 

“Oh, of course, can we swap cars then? It would be easier for us to take a smaller car, then try and drive around in either the truck or the other van.”

 

You nodded, pulling your keys and exchanging them. With that settled, you turned around and wolf whistle to get everyone's attention. The boys stop yammering at Blue, and the girls peek around the corner from the dining room. Stretch gives a chuckle and stuffs his hands into his pockets as he waits for instructions.

 

“ALRIGHT! Everyone here? Headcount? One… two… three…..seven… nine. Ok, sweet. Does everyone have everything you need? I’m not made of cash so you have five minutes to go raid your savings or beg your parents for money. I expect everyone outside and in the van in less than ten minutes. Ready… set……….. Go!”

 

And off they went, scrambling around corners and dashing up the stairs. Stretch gave you an impressed look.

 

“Hey, this ain’t my first rodeo, and I mean half of them are over the age of ten, so they don’t need to be babied. Actually, none of them really do, but it’s still fun.”

 

You gave a big smile then turned to your sisters.

 

“So it’s 3:30 now, I’ll get them fed at the fair. I’m assuming you'de like them home and getting ready for bed around 8:30ish?”

 

“If you're there a little bit later, that’s fine. We plan on being back by 9:30/10:00. Once you get them back home, don’t feel like you have to stick around. Louise will be in charge and will lock the doors.”

 

Diana said with a smile.

 

“Then maybe you shouldn’t take my car, so I don’t end up taking yours home instead.”

 

“Oh… right, yeah… yeah, I see that. Ok, I’ll leave your keys on the counter.”

 

Stretch stepped in at this point.

 

“if you need to take Y/N’s car we can get her back home, then we can pop by tomorrow to pick her car up.”

 

You looked a little confused, then realized what he was saying. Oh my god, you were going to get to actually see how the teleportation magic thingy worked!

 

“Yeah, we can do that.”

 

Diana and Ella exchanged a look but didn’t say anything. After the car arrangements were taken care of. You said goodbye and went out to your sister’s van.

 

Blue had a curious look on his face as you left the house.

 

“Y/N, YOU DO NOT SEEM TO RESEMBLE YOU FAMILY. I’VE NOTICED THAT MOST HUMAN FAMILY UNITS TEND TO SHARE STRONG CHARACTERISTICS.”

 

“Astute observation Blue. Di and Ella are my half-sister’s from my mom’s first marriage. She got married very young and then divorced and was single for a long time until she met my dad. Then they got married and had me and my brother. There is a fourteen year age gap between Diana, who is the oldest, and Ricky, who is the youngest. We’re what humans call a ‘blended family’.”

 

Blue nodded thoughtfully as you walked to the van. You pulled out your phone and saw that there was roughly two minutes left in your countdown to when you needed to leave, and yet not one child had made it outside to your knowledge. You went to open the drivers door and immediately noticed that there was someone in the passenger seat. Louise was all buckled up with her feet up on the dashboard. You should have known she’d be there first.

 

You open the door and climb in the start the car.

 

“I call dibs on shotgun. And Reagan has to sit in the console seat cause he’s the smallest.”

 

At that point, all the kids came filtering out of the house towards the car, calling out where they wanted to sit. Standing up so you were looking over the car, you waved a hand to get their attention again.

 

“Alright Reagan in the front with me and Louise, four of you pick who gets stuck in the way back, and someone gets to sit between the skeletons.”

 

Technically they didn’t have to sit between the skeletons, but you wanted to see who’d be willing to do so with those stipulations out on the table. You were surprised how almost immediately Michael raised his hand and jumped up and down.

 

“Oo, oo, oo, me! I wanna sit next to Blue! Can I sit next to Blue?”

 

“I WOULD VERY MUCH ENJOY THAT AS  WELL.”

 

Stretch just shrugged and the remaining four said that they were fine with the seating arrangements, and after a few minutes and shuffling and yelling and some “hey, don’t step on the seat”s and “but I get sick if I’m by the window”s, you finally had everyone in the car.

 

“Ok, is everyone buckled up? Yes, no? If we get pulled over and you don’t have one on, I’m letting the officer arrest you, k? Ok.”

 

And with that, finally, you were pulling out and driving off to the fair.

 

Thankfully it wasn’t a long drive otherwise someone might have gone stir crazy. You were so happy to hear Michael bantering back and forth with Blue most of the way. Every once in a while, one of the kids from the way back would interject and ask a question of either Blue or Stretch. They were polite, but also very, very curious. Annette interjected at one point to tell them about the new monster twins that had recently joined her class. She had gotten really upset when one of the older girls from a different class had tried to bully them, so she had stepped in and told the other girl to go away. This caused you to smile, Annette was your little social justice warrior. To her it didn’t matter who you were, she would always treat you equally. 

 

After that little story, you were soon pulling into the dirt parking lot just outside the fairgrounds.

 

“Alright, we’re here, everyone file out please.”

 

Once everyone was out, you pulled all the kids over to the side of the van.

 

“So here are the rules, you all have a set amount of money, do not just go and buy an endless amount of sweets. I’m looking at your Michael. Save a bit for dinner and games. Does everyone have a buddy? If you get lost, you find a worker and have them take you to the information booth. OK?”

 

“Why doesn’t Louise have a buddy?” Eve quickly pointed out.

 

“Because Louise is old enough to go meet up with friends. The rest of ya are stuck with me. So, to the ticket booth, then onward we go.”

 

With the guidelines laid out, you looped arm into Stretch’s as you pulled him along with everyone else.

 

Once inside, watching the kids was like trying to herd cats. They all immediately wanted to go to different attractions the second they were inside the gates. Louise stuck around until a group of her friends found her and carted her off, giggling and gossiping the entire way. Annette and Eve begged you to take them to get their faces painted. Reagan and Michael were pulling Blue off towards the carnival games. They really wanted him to play the strong man game. Andrew and Lucus casually asked Stretch if he was interested in any of the rides or would prefer some of the games. 

 

You were so glad that you had both of the brothers here to help. You waved your phone in the air, letting the others know that you would contact them if needed. The next couple of hours went by pretty quickly and the skeleton brothers seemed to warm up to all of your crazy kiddos. Around dinnertime, you all met up at some of the food trucks to get something to eat.

 

Blue was certainly excited when he found out there was a taco truck and insisted on going to that particular one. Andrew (your oldest nephew who was about thirteen, but was seriously more mature than most were at his age) was asking Stretch about the differences between normal food and monster food and monsters were actually able to consume human food. The two seemed to have hit it off pretty well due to the boy’s love for science and machines. After getting your food, you headed over to a table to sit.

 

You hadn’t seen Louise, but you expected her to be with her friends the entire time. So it was pretty much a bit of a surprise when the girl slipped into the chair next to you and put her head on your shoulder. Uh, oh… Auntie mode engaged.

 

“Hey, sweetie, nice of you to join us? Everything ok?”

 

She didn’t say anything but shook her head against your shoulder. You immediately put your food down and turned to pull her into a hug. She heaved a heavy sigh and her shoulders shook slightly.

 

“You want to go somewhere quiet to talk?”

 

She shrugged then sat up. You could tell that her eyes were red and puffy. Ok, someone was gonna get punted into next week. Inwardly telling yourself to remain calm, you rubbed a hand across her back.

 

“You sure?”

 

“One of my friends was making fun of you…” Louise said very quietly.

 

“Oh?”

 

“They were calling you some pretty terrible things because you have… monster friends. I got mad at them and told them to stop, that it wasn’t fair to you or your friends since they don’t know anything about you or them.”

 

Oof… this was a lot to be on her shoulders. Kids could be cruel, and Louise was the kind of person to call out other people’s bullshit. She had her morals and stuck to them pretty fast.

 

Everyone else at the table had gone quiet. Annette was the first one to speak up.

 

“I hate that! I hate that so much, why do people have to be so mean?”

 

Eve slipped out from where she had been sitting and went over to give Louise a hug.

 

Michael stood up on his seat. 

 

“Where are they! I wanna go punch them! Nobody talks bad about my friends!”

 

Andrew reached over and pulled Michael back down into his seat.

 

“Punching someone only makes things worse, honestly I’d just leave them alone. More than likely they got that opinion from their parents and are only repeating it so that others think that they are cool.”

 

Lucas nodded in agreement.

 

“Yeah, I mean it’s bad that monsters have to deal with that kind of stuff, but isn’t it not as bad as it use to be?

 

Little Reagen set a steely gaze over to you, he looked like he was concocting some kind of plan in his little brain.

 

Louise sighed again.

 

“Can I just...hang out with you guys? I don’t want to have to talk to that guy again.”

 

Both Blue and Stretch had been pretty quiet for the whole exchange. At this point, Stretch stood up and said that he would be right back, disappearing with a pop.

 

• • • * • • •

 

Stretch was pretty much floored by these kids. He hadn’t really dealt much with human children outside of the Underground, most ran away from them in fear because… well, skeletons. But your family was weird, these kids were all so accepting. Every one of them had at some point come up to him and pulled him off to play some sort of game or try some kind of food.

 

When the oldest one had come back, he had sensed immediately that something was off. Her posture was stooped and she tried to not look anyone in the eyes when she sat down. You also seemed pretty intuned with the girl’s emotions and Stretch honestly wasn’t surprised at the mention of monster racism. It was still an ongoing problem that monsters had to deal with. Humans tended to want to be superior, heck they were even racist against members of their own race.

 

What kind of melted his heart was the genuine feeling of hurt the girl expressed when she told them about her friend’s comments. Then how each child had reacted in their own way. Stretch had excused himself and took a shortcut. He vaguely remembered seeing the group of kids throughout the past couple of hours. He had just mentally wanted to keep track of all of you kids. They weren’t hard to keep track of… nor were they hard to find now. He slowly walked up behind them, catching the tail end of a conversation.

 

“-- seriously, she’d rather go hang out with monsters? Her aunt must be a bad influence on her. Humans shouldn’t date monsters, it’s unnatural.”

 

Stretch coughed to get their attention. They all froze and spun around quickly. The one boy who had been talking took one look at him and his face went completely white.

 

“don't you know how to greet a new pal? c’mon friend… unless you're looking for a bad time.”

 

His expression went dark.

 

“now, i don’t care what your say about me. same racist shit i’ve been hearing since the moment i got out of the underground. now... as for miss louise and her aunt. i suggest you apologize and then steer clear of them. do we understand each other? good.”

 

And with that he took another shortcut back to the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, my hand slipped... haha jk, I had all day free and started writing then realized that this chapter was going to be HUGE if I didn't find a spot to split it up. So, to make up for the times I had some late updates, y'all get three this weekend! woo! Also, thank you all for the amazingly nice comments, I'm floored that people are enjoying this. I plan on doing my darndest to make this a complete piece!
> 
>  
> 
> Also, forgot to tell y'all about the creepy thing that happened when I was writing the last chapter... when I was writing the dialogue for the mysterious shadows in the second half of the dream, the page glitched and erased the dialogue, but it kept popping back up when I would write again. I had to close everything, walk away, then come back later.
> 
> Final thing: Brownie points to anyone who figures out which soul archetype goes with each kid!
> 
> Ok, thanks again! See y'all later


	12. Not a Rose Tinted World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world is not all sunsets and rainbows, there are people out there that will try and ruin anything good. You just need to be determined to move past the insults to find what is good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in the Chapter: "Take On Me" By a-ha (Acoustic Version)

When Stretch got back the entire table was immediately on him, asking questions about his teleportation powers if they could try it, and how did it work? You sat back and laughed, the darker mood now lifted.

 

After a couple of minutes of all seven kids ganging up on Stretch, you suggested that you head towards the Ferris wheel, you could all grab dessert and eat it on the ride. There was a general consensus and you all stopped for ice cream cones and all walked together over towards the largest ride at this fair. Reagan had somehow convinced Stretch to let him ride on his shoulders, and Eve and Michael had both of Blue’s hands and were pulling him along.

 

The sun was just starting to dip down over the horizon, and you all just barely were able to get on the ride before it was completely down. Each passenger car only held four at a time, so everyone split up. Louise took Eve, Reagan, and Lucas up in the first one, then Annette, Michael, and Andrew pulled Blue with them into the next one. Which left you and Stretch in the third. You swear you caught a couple of impish grins from the kids as they peeled back over the backs of their cars.

 

You were giddy to see the sunset, but not so excited to be up so high. You clenched the bar in front of you quite rightly, knuckles going white as you took deep breaths in and out to calm you fast beating heart. Your stomach lurched a bit as the wheel began turning. There surprisingly were not that many people getting on the Ferris Wheel. Which you thought was weird since who would not use this opportunity to get up high to see the sunset?

 

The wheel did a full rotation before it came to a stop. You weren’t the cliche topmost car, that was the one in front of you with Blue. It still didn’t calm your nerves to be up this high. 

 

“you ok there, hun?”

 

“Yes… no… sorta? I’m kind of afraid of heights. I have a major fear of falling, so I just have to keep reminding myself that this ride is safe and not think about the many terrible things that could happen.”

 

You forced yourself to smile, then look over at Stretch. He a smirk on his face.

 

“Don’t laugh at me, it’s a legitimate fear! I have actually fallen from heights a couple of times so my fear is justified.”

 

“I ain’t laughing at ya. don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to ya.”

 

He slipped an arm around your shoulder into a side hug, then left it resting behind you. You gave him a narrow-eyed look of scrutiny.

 

“Smooth, Stretch, very, very smooth.”

 

“I have no idea what ‘cha referring too?”

 

You tried to punch him in the shoulder but it wasn’t very effective in this small space. He let out a chuckle. You looked past him to watch the sunset but kept looking back at him. It was very aesthetically pleasing to see him silhouetted by the bright colors in the background. You tried to solidify this memory in your mind to draw or paint at a later date.

 

“see somethin’ you like?”

 

“Maybe? I mean, who doesn’t enjoy a sunset?”

 

Were… were you actually flirting? So casually? The heck was wrong with you? Since the first time, you’d met you had been a stuttering mess with your words. Stretch turned to face you, and at first, you thought he was going to tease you, say something about how much you’d hurt his feelings. But… no, there was an odd look on his face, like he really, reeeeeeally wanted to say something, but either didn’t know how or couldn’t. He scooted his body so that it was facing towards you rather than just his head.

 

Was it hot up here or was it just you? 

 

“Something wrong? Do I have ice cream on my face?”

 

Deflect, deflect, deflect, deflect! Play it cool. The colors behind him had reached the pinnacle of their glory. Shining at their brightest hue before quickly fading as the night overtook them. However, you did not get to see this clearly as you had stopped trying to memorizing the moment, to memorizing the absolute look of adoration on Stretch’s face. You weren't an idiot, you knew you had some attraction for him as well, but at the same time, you found yourself majorly conflicted. You found that you really liked Blue too, in your own way you liked all of the skeletons. You didn’t want to hurt anyone, plus societies predisposal towards monogamous relationships are away at you.

 

Stretch must have seen the conflicted look on your face as well.

 

“what’s wrong?”

 

Fuck… you could keep trying to deflect and pretend it was something else, but that wasn’t fair to him. Taking a deep breath in, you decided to try and explain it as best as you could.

 

“I… it’s... this is complicated. I really,  **really** want to but I feel like I’m being pulled in multiple directions. I don’t want to hurt you, god I wouldn’t forgive myself if I hurt Blue. Just, I d-don’t know what to do.”

 

You fidgeted with your hands, going between grasping at the bar in front of you to balling them up into fists. 

 

You looked back over at Stretch. He didn’t look hurt… he seemed… happy?

 

“s’that all your worried about?”

 

“Huh? I don’t get it, it’s a bit of a big deal. How am I supposed to deal with multiple attractions and be put into a decision where I have to choose. That’s heartless…”

 

“i think i can explain some things that can help with that once we get back.”

 

“Really? How…”

 

“not now, it’ll take too long, and this wheel isn’t going to stay stopped forever. that technician will eventually figure out that he needs to trip the breaker to get it to start up again.”

 

“You didn’t!?”

 

Stretch gave you a sly smile and a wink.

 

You were about to say something when a voice yelled at you from the car in front of you.

 

“Just KISS already!”

 

You jerked your head over to the cars in front of you, and eight pairs of eyes were turned around in their seats watching you with those same impish grins. Great, you had an audience. You then looked at Blue, questioningly, he smiled at you and gave a thumbs up. A wave of relief washed over you as you turned and gave a weak grin to Stretch.

 

Before either of you could really get a word out, you leaned over, without a thought, and gave him a quick kiss on his teeth. You both pulled back, surprised. Then the ride started up again.

 

A chorus of giggles, hoots, and boos from the cars in front of you made you laugh.

 

“I don’t need comments from the peanut gallery!”

 

“Booo, that wasn’t a kiss!”

 

“Annette, I swear to high heaven!”

 

The ride slowed and allowed all of you to get out. There was another group standing just behind where the kids were standing. They were staring, well not like a lot of people hadn’t already been staring all afternoon at you all, but this felt… awkward and tense. You reached over, and grabbed Eve’s hand, and nodded at the three oldest (Louise, Annette, and Andrew) to do the same. Stretch sensing your discomfort, bent down and picked up Reagan again, and set him on his shoulders. Blue walked around to you other side and helped you create a semi-barrier between the kids and the group.

 

“Excuse us.”

 

You said as you made a beeline for the thinnest part of the crowd. 

 

_ Monster Fucker _

 

_ Skeleton Bitch _

 

You heard some mutter in the crowd. Your blood boiled. They.Did.Not.Just.Say.That.In.Front.Of.The.Kids!?! No, you were not going to let sleeping dogs lie, call you a bitch, huh? Well, this bitch has got teeth. Handing off Eve to Blue, you spun around towards the source of the voice.

 

“HOW DARE YOU.”

 

Eyes turned to look at you, a mix of confusion, disgust, superiority, privilege, and snobbery on the faces you could barely see through your red vision.

 

“I could care less about whatever you call me, but how dare you say those things in front of kids! What kind of impression do you think that leaves? You stand there with all of your fake superiority, thinking your above everything? Well, guess what, you want things to change? Fine, it’s you who needs to change because it’s people like you who are the problem. Now go along and have fun in your racist ways. Oh, and don’t think neutrality means anything, it just shows you'de rather let the nay-sayers win.”

 

Your face was red and you were shaking with fury. Don’t cry, don’t cry, no not cry. You kept telling yourself over and over. Determined and stubborn, you would not show these pigs any weakness. You stood up y’all, turned, and walked over to your little unit and reached down and picked up Eve. You didn’t care that she was a bit too big for this. You need something to ground you and help you calm down. You felt her arms wrap around your neck, then another arm wrapped around your shoulders.

 

“you wanna get out’a here?”

 

You leaned into Stretch, then looked around at the kids, you still had another hour or so to hang around. Also, why leave? That would only be a win for those racists.

 

“Not unless they want to.”

 

The kids all looked at each other, a silent conversation happening through looks. Louise was the first to speak up.

 

“Well, I know I don’t really have much left that I wanna do, plus if we go home now, we can play some video games before you leave and we go to bed.”

 

“I wanna play Mario Kart!!!” 

 

Michael said next, interjected his opinion quite loudly. Eve just nodded into your neck, and everyone else was pretty much in agreement to head home. Nodding, you all head towards the exit.

 

Every look, glancing or blatant, made you jumpy. Maybe it was a good idea to leave early. Eve was already falling asleep in your arms and Reagan was already out on Stretch’s shoulders. Once outside,  the deepening twilight seemed to dampen the sounds coming from behind you. You took a deep breath in, the smell of dust, earth, and popcorn filling your nose. Loading the kids up into the car wasn’t difficult, no one complained about who would sit where you highly doubted most would be awake by the time you got home.

 

Not much was said between you and the two brothers during this time either. A brief touch of your hand on Stretch’s arm and a side hug with a sleepy looking Blue. You had some ambient music playing as you drove everyone home to the quiet and empty house. As you had predicted, more than half the kids were asleep by the time you pulled into the driveway. Michael had passed out against Blue’s shoulder, Reagan had his head in Louise’s lap, and Eve and Lucas were completely out cold in the way back. Thankfully, Louise, Annette, & Andrew were awake to help bring the sleepers inside.

 

You were able to get a couple of them to wake up a little bit to get cleaned up and into PJs. Reagan was the only one who you couldn’t get to wake up. So you had Louise hold him while you cleaned the dust and sticky food remnants off of him then had Andrew get him changed. Finally, when you had the four tucked away into bed, you heard a small call. Eve blinked at you from her sleepover cot.

 

“Auntie, can you tell us a story or sing, please?”

 

You smiled and went and sat by the side of her cot.

 

“Sure Sweets.”

 

You waited for her to get comfortable, then noticed that both Michael and Lucus had shifted in their beds so that they were close enough to listen in as well. You started humming slightly, getting yourself into the correct key before singing slowly and quietly.

  
  


_ We're talking away _

_ I don't know what I'm to say _

_ I'll say it anyway _

_ Today's another day to find you _

_ Shying away _

_ I'll be coming for your love, OK? _

  
  


You could see there faces smile with contentment. This was one of your favorite songs you would all sing together on road trips.

  
  


_ Take on me  _

_ Take me on  _

_ I'll be gone _

_ In a day or two _

  
  


You heard someone quietly enter the room. Not stopping, but looking over you saw the three older kids shuffle in, dressed for bed as well. Louise came and snuggled under your right arm, Annette sat down in front of you with her head resting on Eve’s cot as well. Andrew found a chair in the corner and tucked himself up onto that. The two older girls joined in on the next verse, quietly harmonizing.

  
  


_ So needless to say _

_ I'm odds and ends _

_ But I'll be stumbling away _

_ Slowly learning that life is ok _

_ Say after me _

_ It's no better to be safe than sorry _

 

_ Take on me  _

_ Take me on  _

_ I'll be gone _

_ In a day or two _

  
  


You were absentmindedly stroking Eve’s hair with your left hand as you watched everyone drifting off to sleep or yawn to show that they were on their way to being asleep.

  
  


_ Oh, things that you say _

_ Is it a life or just to play my worries away _

_ You're all the things I've got to remember _

_ You're shying away _

_ I'll be coming for you anyway _

  
  
  


_ Take on me  _

_ Take me on  _

_ I'll be gone _

_ In a day _

_ Take on me  _

_ Take me on  _

_ I'll be gone _

_ In a day  _

 

The four younger ones were breathing peacefully. You smiled and gave Louise a squeeze as you quietly got up.

 

“Hey, do you guys want me to stick around, or you all just headed to bed?”

 

Louise shook her head.

 

“I’ll lock the doors. You can head home if you want.”

 

“Ok, you know you can text me if anything goes sideways, I’ll just pop right back… Literally.”

 

You smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead. A few quick goodnights and goodbyes you headed towards the door. You jumped slightly when you saw Stretch standing in the doorway. You smiled shyly.

 

“They're all set… um, where’s Blue?”

 

“ah, he fell asleep on the couch so took him home real quick. but i’m back to get’cha home like i said i would.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

You awkwardly stood there for a second. Not quite knowing what to do.

 

“Um, so how does it work?”

 

“well, you need to hold on tight. can’t go and end up losing you in the void.”

 

“Really? …..ok.”

 

You stepped forward and held out your hands. But before you, both could leave you felt someone tuck themselves under your arm. Annette stood there with a cheshire grin on her sleepy face.

 

“Auntie, are you going to actually kiss him tonight? Or are you going to chicken out?”

 

You rolled your eyes and squeezed her head a bit with your bicep. 

 

“I don’t know yet your goofball, now get into bed!”

 

Her giggling was the last thing you heard before Stretch pulled you into a hug and the world disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Lovelies! Here is the end of the fair chapter, had to do a bit of tweaking so its a bit shorter than I thought, but I love doing the interactions with the kids. Also, I think I saw two peeps work together to get the kid's soul archetypes right! Brownie Points, yay! I'm currently starting the next chapter so it may take about a week and a half due to some family stuff, but I'll get it out soonish. Talk to y'all later :3


	13. All I Ask of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, an explanation... but is more than you can understand?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in the Chapter: None
> 
> Themes: (What I imagine Reader's Soul sounding like) <https://youtu.be/ZFnAwEeO2-Y>

It felt like you were being pulled through zero gravity. You were weightless as you clung to the only thing you knew was real. It smelled like a mixture of ozone, a storm before it torrentially downpoured, with a hint of something metallic that clung to the roof of your mouth. It was only for a few seconds but you felt like you couldn’t breathe, you couldn’t tell if your eyes were open or closed, you began to feel a rising panic in your chest.

 

Then it was over and you were standing in the downstairs apartment’s living room. You took a sharp breath in, filling your lungs up with the slightly smoky smelling air. You blinked rapidly, letting your mind catch up with current events. Your head snapped up to look at Stretch’s face.

 

“Woah…”

 

The only intelligent thing you could think of to say.

 

His arms were firmly clasped around your waist and your arms around his neck. All you could do was stare in amazement while he gave you his signature half-smile.

 

“Is it like that every time?”

 

“depends on how far of a shortcut i have to take.” 

 

“Does it always smell like that?”

 

“like what?”

 

You describe the sensation and ran your tongue across the roof of your mouth, you could still taste whatever that metallic scent was… it… it kind of triggered a memory. Well, not so much a memory, but the idea of a memory. You knew this taste but you had no clue from where or when you had ever tasted something like this? 

 

You were absently staring, your mind far away. Until an ‘ahem’, brought you both back to reality. Looking over in the direction of the kitchen, you saw Sans standing in the doorway with an uncomfortably neutral look on his face. You looked between the two and slowly realized that you and Stretch were still holding on to one another. You slowly unhooked your arms from around his neck and Stretch let go of your waist, but one arm slid up so that it was draped over your shoulder.

 

“Um, hi… Sans, didn’t expect to see you here… is there something you… need?”

 

You glanced up at Stretch, you still had questions you needed to ask him, about what exactly… this thing you had going was? How were your feelings of multiple attractions not as big of a deal as you felt it was?

 

Sans: “so, how’d it go?”

 

Stretch: “was good.”

 

Sans was talking very evenly… almost too evenly. Why were you so sad at this expression? What were you missing? Ok, you knew that multiple of these guys were attracted to you. You hadn’t really gotten much from Sans other than the odd pun or friendly conversation. You liked him in a much different way than others, in that chill sort of relaxed way. You always felt comfortable around him.

 

And right now he was being way to calm, almost intensely calm… like the kind of calm you would use to hide something? You took a step forward… was this jealousy? Oh boy, this was going to be so complicated. You held out a hand to him than the other one back to Stretch.

 

“Can… can we just talk? Please, I have questions and I need to understand. Just sit.”

 

You pulled both of them to the couch. They complied quite easily. You sat them down on the couch, as you sat on the coffee table in front of them (thankfully it was an old chest so you wouldn’t break it by sitting on it). They both passed a look between one another as you fidgeted before speaking.

 

“Sooooooooo, um… fuck, like I don’t know where to start. Guess I’ll repeat myself a bit… I…”

  
  


Aaaaand all that weird bravado from earlier was gone, you were back to being your awkward fidgety mess. You were rubbing your index finger raw with your other hand. The room suddenly felt a lot warmer than it had been only a few seconds before.

 

“s’ok, take your time, hun.”

 

You smiled as you looked over at Stretch. Alright, close your eyes, breath in… one… two… three let it out… two, two, three… open your eyes.

 

“I’m very confused about the multiple attractions and how you seem so calm about this? Like… oof, ok humans tend to have a lot of stigma about relationships that are ingrained into us from the time we are kids. You can date around in like… high school and college, but like everything is very monogamous. The only thing in mainstream culture until recently, that involved multiple relationships was polygamy (which is highly frowned upon) or you were just considered...well… a slut. Like I have no idea how your culture views these kinds of things, but I know recently the idea of polyamory just grew in.... well not popularity, but more people know about it than before. I am getting some major agita and guilt over the idea of being interested in multiple persons. I just…”

 

You started… and you just… couldn’t stop talking, you talked yourself in circles, trying to either justify something, relieve the guilt you felt, or wrap your head around new ideas.

 

“...I just don’t want to hurt anyone. I know what it’s like to… be rejected. God… I’m really bad at explaining this…”

 

You finally ran out of steam and sat there, red in the face and unable to make eye contact with the two in front of you on the couch. You felt so many different emotions, you wanted to cry but you didn’t know for what reason, you wanted to scream out of frustration, you wanted to bury yourself six feet under with the cultural guilt weighing you down, and you wanted to laugh maniacally because it was a relief to finally get these thoughts off your chest.

 

Things were too quiet… why weren’t they saying anything? Did you say too much or not enough? Did they change their minds, were they upset? Were they feeling just as awkward and confused as you were?

 

_ “Please just say something!” _

 

You were internally screaming. You couldn’t stand it! You wanted to peek up through your hair that was hanging down in front of your face, but you kept your eyes on the floor. 

 

You felt one hand on your arm then another on your shoulder. You didn’t flinch but let them pull you onto the couch between them.

 

“hey, kiddo, it's ok. Listen, there probably a lot of things we’re gonna have’ta explain, but can ya keep on open mind?”

 

You leaned into the back of the couch, Stretch’s arm around your shoulders and your head resting on Sans’s shoulder.

 

“Yeah...Yes, please... I want to understand.”

 

You really couldn’t understand how bad it could be like… you were assuming monsters were just more culturally advanced when it came to relationships. They seemed so much more open about other things than humans were. It was probably another reason why some humans hated them.

 

Sans made a sound like he was clearing his… throat? You still did not get their whole anatomy. Yeah, magic was an explanation, but like… how?

 

“so, you know about souls, right?”

 

You nodded.

 

“I mean, humans have always had a concept of the soul... Only in like, a metaphysical way. Often synonymous with spirit or something that persists even after you die. Mostly something constantly talked about in different religions.”

 

Stretch chuckled.

 

“s’ pretty interesting how close that is but how so wrong it is at the same time. sounds like the truth got diluted through the years.”

 

You’d talked to some of the monsters at your school before as well so you knew the concept was completely different for them. For monsters, their entire beings and their magic came from their souls. Sans repeated just as much and you nodded again in agreement.

 

Sans: “for monsters, because we are very beings are our souls, every connection between souls is something important, e-especially when it comes to relationships. you humans seem to have a very different approach to relationships. you randomly hope to find someone that fits you well enough, but there are times it's not a good enough fit or the relationship can’t last. monsters have a way of being about to find someone who fits them best. it's not always a perfect fit, but it's enough. everyone hopes to find that absolutely perfect match, one where their souls resonate so well together that they are perfectly in harmony.”

 

Stretch: “soulmates. most true soulmates never meet in their entire lifetime. and for monsters that is a very, very long time.”

 

You were starting to get the picture. It wasn’t too hard of an idea to grasp.

 

“Ok, so soulmates, so... Am I…? With who? But that doesn’t help with the whole multiple attractions, actually, that sounds like it makes it even more complicated.”

 

Stretch: “shari’n a soul bond with more than one person isn’t uncommon. it’s rare, but not unheard of… but there’s more to it… and this ‘s the part where you need to keep an open mind. its a bit much to wrap your head around.

 

Sans: “it's not something we can just tell anyone, to be honest, we had hoped to wait for this, but circumstances change.”

 

Ok, now they were really confusing you. What on earth could they be talking about?

 

Sans: “have you ever thought of multiple realities?

 

You shot bolt upright, you turned and stared at Sans, eyes wide. Ok, you had been feeling slightly sleepy, but now you were wide awake. Was he suggestion what you think he was?

 

“No… I mean, I mean, yes I do, but you can’t be serious like… what?”

 

You snapped your head in the other direction to look up at Stretch. He gave you a noncommittal shrug. Ok, you couldn’t sit. You got up and started pacing back and forth. If what Sans was implying was true then holy fucking cow that explained so much but it sent your head reeling.

 

“Ok, so if I pick up what you're putting down, you...is that why you there seem to have specific brother pairs… and why y’all look so much alike…?”

 

They both nod.

 

You flopped down onto the coffee table again.

 

“Woah… so, whose reality is this?”

 

Sans raised a hand.

 

“Is that why they call you Classic? Weird, but that fixes that mystery.”

 

Other realities...it made you think, what were you like in other worlds?... wait… that brought up an interesting thought.

 

“Wait, wait, wait, waaaaaait… you all are very different. I mean it’s enough to make you all very different individuals. So that still doesn’t make sense that those from other realities would still have a bond with me? I mean I would be a different person in their world right? Different enough to not make me a perfect soulmate? Or is there something else I’m missing?”

 

Sans seemed like he was about to say something, then stopped, then sat back with a very confused look on his face. Stretch’s face contorted with concern, then looked over at the other on the couch. You watched pensively, watching there every tick, gauging their moods. They seemed to have not thought on this strange loophole… interesting. 

 

Sans leaned forward.

 

“it's a possibility, but at the same time, you seem to be an anomaly.”

 

“Gee Sans, thanks...make me feel more like a freak.”

 

“no, no, no… i mean, what you say is true, but it's not at the same time.”

 

Stretch shifted in his seat.

 

“y’see, hun… when a monster finds his soulmate, they know that they are bonded because their souls start… singing to each other.”

 

You raise an eyebrow.

 

“My soul is… singing?”

 

Sans: “yeah…”

 

Stretch: “mhm… and thing is…”

 

Sans: “your soul…”

 

Stretch: “it's unique…”

 

Sans: “not only is it singing… it's singing loud enough that, well…”

 

Stretch: “...”

 

Sans: “...”

 

Stretch: “we all could hear it across the country.”

 

...

 

“Woah.”

 

...

 

You guess that is pretty unique.

 

…

 

You leaned back on your hands and stared up at the ceiling. Ok, soulmate’s souls would sing to each other when they found each other. So you assumed that they had to physically be near each other. As far as you knew, Mt. Ebbott was like, thousands of miles away. Did it have to do with the other realities? Was your soul you like this in other worlds?

 

“So, backtracking slightly...when did you all get here… and how? I don’t understand science in the slightest, but wouldn’t it take a hugely massive amount of energy… like star exploding, black-hole forming amounts of energy to even think about something like this?”

 

Sans jumped in at this point.

 

“i’ve got a machine, use to tinker with it but it didn’t seem to work right ‘til I started working on it up here ‘bout four an a half years ago. it kinda went haywire and suddenly Edge and Red were here all pissed off. tried working on how to fix the machine with Red and ended up pulling Stretch and Blue here about a two and a half after that, then about a year or so ago Black and Rus. We’ve been very hesitantly work’n on the machine to try and get them back, but with three unsuccessful attempts, we’re not quite sure if it’ll work.”

 

“So like, with an infinite amount of possible alternate realities, trying to pinpoint a specific time and place is like trying to find a grain of rice buried in the sand at a beach?”

 

Oof, this was some heavy stuff. You kind of felt bad, but at the same time relieved because that machine going wrong could cause some cataclysmic scenarios if things ended up failing worse than just accidentally pulling people from different realities.

 

You looked over at Stretch, you had certainly noticed how much he, Edge, Rus, and Paps looked alike. Same with Sans, Red, Blue, and Black.

 

“So… I’m assuming calling you Stretch is just so that four people don’t all respond at the same time to the same name. What is your name?”

 

You had thought the look on the ferris wheel was enough to blow you away, but this look told you so much. It was like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulder.

 

“Papyrus.”

 

“Well, it's nice to finally… actually meet for real… Papyrus.” 

 

You reached out and hugged him. He was shaking, but you could sense his smile. It felt good, it felt complete. The pieces to this wildly ridiculous puzzle were falling into place. Though some surrounding you were very much missing, maybe you didn’t need them to understand the whole picture? You just let yourself rest at the moment, and faintly… ever so faintly, you heard a soft sound of music in your head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit on the shorter side today, but I'm happy with how this went. I felt like I couldn't go through the explanation without Sans, it's his main reality he's gotta have a say in what gets told. So now we're getting into the fun parts! :3 Hopefully things don't get too busy this week. I'll see y'all next time.


	14. I Can Hear You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Setting boundaries and singing songs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in this Chapter:  
> • "Blue on Black" by Five Finger Death Punch  
> • "Ashes of Eden" by Breaking Benjamin

You don’t really remember when you fell asleep but honestly, you were too comfy to care. As you slowly came around to consciousness, you immediately knew you were not in your bed. You frowned slightly, still not opening your eyes as you mentally mapped out each point of contact, following down each limb. You head resting on something lumpy and that sensation continued down your back until your backside was on something soft, kind of like cushions. You left was bent at the knee but rest on something soft as well while the other was hanging off and your right foot was on the floor. You could tell that there was something heavy on your torso, but it wasn’t so bad that you were having trouble breathing. There was an arm resting loosely across your shoulder and neck, while your own arms were up and wrapped around whatever was on top of you.

 

Hmmmm, ok you needed to think back… what was the last thing you remembered? Fair… Kids… Ferris Wheel… Kiss… Yelling… Singing… Holding Tight… Long talks into the early morning. 

Ah, right…

…

…

OH! You were still in Stretch and Blue’s apartment, you were still in your clothes from yesterday, You, Stretch, and Sans had talked about relationships, soulmates, and other related topics for quite a while. You had tried to stay up but remember closing your eyes for just a second. You must have fallen asleep. Whoops.

 

You inhaled deeply. Ah, yes, the distinct smell of honey, cigarette smoke, and that slightly metallic one, but you could also smell clean and crisp laundry and something faintly spicy. You slowly blinked your eyes open. Ah, it was Blue. You guess Sans had gone home at some point and Blue had joined you both on the couch. It was relatively light in the room, so you could assume that it was still morning but honestly you wonder why Blue was still asleep. It was very unlike him to stay in bed this long. You had to be up early for classes and he was pretty much always well into his morning run. You grinned, then shifted your head to look up and found the lazy grin of Stretch staring back at you. 

 

“morn’n.”

 

“Mmmm, morning. Well, this is quite the reverse. You up and Blue asleep, what is this world coming to?”

 

He chuckled and leaning down, placing his teeth against your forehead. You guess this was like a kiss, felt a bit more like a nuzzle, but it still made you flush with embarrassment and happiness. You shift a little bit, trying to sit up a bit more without disturbing Blue, but the second you moved, his head lifted off your sternum and a bright smile was on his face.

 

“Good Morning Y/N!

 

Oh good, he had toned the volume down. You grinned and gave him a squeeze.

 

“Good morning Starshine, the earth says hello.”

 

He gave you a confused look, but it passed as he leaned and placed his teeth on your forehead, similarly to how Stretch had a moment ago. Ok, so… you didn’t hate this, not at all… it was just a lot of affection all at once, you didn’t really know what to do or quite how to deal with it. You tried saying something but it was mostly unintelligible noises.

 

Then you phone buzzed.

 

Oh shit, you never got to charge it last night, it’s probably almost dead. Fishing into your pocket, you pulled out your cell. It wasn’t a new message, but a notification that you had work in an hour. Wait, you looked at the time….

 

“Nooooooooo, I’m going to be late!

 

You gently, but quickly unentangled yourself from the skeletons, started towards the door then froze. You had forgotten… you don’t have your car!

 

“Oh noooo no no, frick. Stretch, I need to get to my sisters, I need to get my car. Oh, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh-... I’m going to have to drive from her house to work.”

 

Before you could get a response, you opened the door then bounded up the stairs to change into your uniform. You checked in the mirror, you wished you could have showered after the dusty fairgrounds, but you decided to just deal with it and lightly washed your face and arms with a cloth. Beyond that there was a redness to your cheek and a brightness to your eyes, you looked… happy. You didn’t have that overtired look or have a fake smile on your face, this was genuine happiness.

 

You smiled as you turned away and patted down your pockets. Phone? Check, but at 27 percent battery. Keys? Yes. Wallet? Yes. Ok now to go get your car. You gallop back down the stairs, and hesitate slightly at the door, wondering if you now had permission to just walk in or knock. You knock. Blue opens the door.

 

“Y/N, THERE’S NO NEED FOR FORMALITIES.”

 

“I know Blue, but I think I’d like to keep things going a bit slow. Give everyone some time to adjust, k?”

 

He contemplates for a moment, then nods.

 

“Thanks.”

 

You bend down and give him a kiss on his cheek, then step past. Wait, maybe that was a bit contradictory. Blue had the brightest smile you had ever seen on his face. Well, he seemed to not care about the contradiction.

 

“What I mean is… like permission to enter each other’s personal spaces. I know certain individuals have… shortcuts and I would like a warning before people randomly start showing up straight into my room or vice versa. I guess the same with physical contact. I should have asked first.”

 

Blue’s smile didn’t waver at all. He walked over and held out a hand instead of taking yours in his hand. It was an invitation with permission. You relaxed, good, he understood. You reached out and held his hand.

 

“Y/N, YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION.”

 

“...Ok, Blue.”

 

You smiled and turned to find Stretch waiting. Hopefully, he had heard the exchange. You were going to have to repeat this conversation with each skeleton, a bit annoying, but it had to be done. You felt like you especially needed to talk to Rus. It had been roughly about two and a half weeks since the window incident. Probably a good enough amount of time separated. He had been very respectful of your wishes.

 

Blinking, you brought yourself back to the present and smiled up at Stretch. He held an arm out.

 

“ready, hun?”

 

“Yes, thank you.”

 

You turned and waved to Blue who returned it eagerly, then wrapped your arms around Stretch’s neck and wrapped his arms around your waist. You honestly could get use to this.

 

And with that, you popped out through the void.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

The kids had been super stoked to see you all again, but you hadn’t been able to stay long. Gave each of your sisters a kiss on the cheek (they had both screamed when you had randomly popped in, but after quickly explaining they had nodded in hesitant acceptance) and a quick hello and goodbye you were rushing out the door to your car. Stretch had calmly followed behind you, spent a little bit of extra time chatting with the kids. You could feel the scheming going on behind your back, but when you got to your car you were a bit surprised when Stretch got into the passenger seat.

 

“figured if i came see where you work i can be of more use if you're late again.”

 

“Thank you! That means a lot, I had thought about it but thought it would be too imposing to ask. I don’t want to-”

 

Stretch reach over and squeezed your hand.

 

“nah, don’t worry about that. if you ever need help, don’t ever hesitate to ask.”

 

You had felt a squeezing sensation in your chest, you were honestly overcome with emotion you could only sputter out a simple ‘ok’ before turning on the car and doing your best to get to work on time.

 

Thinking back on it now as you sat in front of the monitors at work, you couldn’t help but let a smile creep on your face.

 

“Well, don’t you look like the cat that ate the canary, what’s up?

 

You jumped at turned to see Jace leaning on the doorframe to the monitor room. You put a hand on your forehead and leaned back in your chair, giving him an exaggerated frown.

 

“Dude, you scared the ever-loving life out of me, knock or announce your presence at least next time.”

 

He grinned and gave a light laugh.

 

“Sorry, but anyway what gives? Is there an attractive person in this game that I was unaware of”

 

He shoved his way next to you to get a better look at the people playing the escape game. They were only about a third of the way through the room and still have thirty minutes left before time was up. Didn’t look like they would finish the room.

 

“Ooooor, does it have something to do with the monster you showed up with this morning? C’mon, I know a smitten person when I see one.”

 

Damn, always the observant know-it-all.

 

“I don’t quite know what our relationship is… it's complicated… but, I’m definitely happy.”

 

“Finally, you’re a good gal, y/n, you deserve some sort of happiness in this cruel world. It was always a bummer to have to watch you deal with everything with that same expression on your face day in and day out. However, enough about you because I have a request about later tonight.”

 

Jace hopped up on the desk and crossed one leg over the other.

 

“SO! I have finally finished a new piece for my album and will be debuting it at The Hub tonight, can I count on your presence there for critiques?”

 

You sat back and thought, The Hub was a nice enough lounge that was very lgbt+ friendly, you had been to a couple of drag shows there and they continually had an open mic night at least once every couple of weeks. It still wasn’t your favorite kind of setting, but at least you felt very safe there because even if someone caused trouble, they’de have to deal with the Queens. Maybe it’d be nice to go out for a little bit.

 

“Sure, I’ll come around for a little bit. I’m assuming if its open mic, then there is a high probability that Lola will be singing as well, and after the last time I don’t think she’ll let me miss this.”

 

“Oh, she is for sure going to make you sing again if you show up.”

 

“... yay?”

 

A buzzer went off.

 

“Ok, let me get back to my job, I’ll talk details once I’m done with this group, ok?”

 

“Sure, sure.”

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

You shifted slightly uncomfortable in your seat, Anna and Sike were running a bit behind, so you were in charge of making sure no one took over your table. You watched the floor area where you could see Jace setting up to start the open mic portion of the show. There was a relatively sizable crowd tonight. Some people you recognize from previous times you’d been here, plus there were some mix of humans and monsters. You couldn’t help but let a small smile grace your face. You seemed to be mentally keeping tabs of places that accepted everyone, maybe next time you could bring some of the skeletons. You had a feeling some of them would enjoy this.

 

A tap on your shoulder and you turned to see Anna and Sike.

 

“Hey, glad you guys could make it. It should be starting shortly.”

 

Anna sat down on your left and Sike sat down across from you. Anna let out a sigh.

 

“Sorry, traffic was bad. There was an accident on the Turnpike so we had to find a detour.”

 

Sike nodded as if to corroborate her story.

 

“Well, you’re here now. Ah, looks like they're ready now.”

 

Everyone started clapping as the host of open mic stood up and spun around to acknowledge the crowd. There was a tall drag queen decked out of blues and purples, even their beard was a bright shade of purple.

 

“Goooood evening everyone! Wow, such a great turnout!”

 

A couple of minutes of back and forth banter between the queen and the crowd, everyone seemed pretty hyped up for some reason.

 

“Alright, alright, now enough of me. To open up our show, we have our regular Beethoven, who has been working long and hard on his newest piece that he will now be sharing with us! Please give a warm reception to, Jace!”

 

Jace came up and gave an overexaggerated bow, giving a wide grin the audience. He then started up his equipment. It was a pretty good piece, wasn’t exactly your style but you still clapped along and gave a good hoot once it was over. After pushing everything aside, Jace joined the three of you at your table, and the show continued on.

 

“Well? Thoughts?”

 

Jace immediately said as they sat down.

 

“I liked it, you know, despite the style. It was well composed, the bridge kept things going nicely. No complaints here.”

 

“Please, it was pure perfection. Your preferred music is just… too depressing for my taste.”

 

“Whatever, Jace, I said I liked it.”

 

Anna and Sike didn’t know much about music but gave their compliments as well. You all chatted for a bit, enjoying the show. About an hour later, you were starting to think about whether you should head home or not when the host got up to announce the next performer.

 

“Folks, guess we have another regular here and let me say you will all be quite pleased when you sit back and listen to the dulcet tones of our next piece.”

 

You were half paying attention as you had pulled out your phone to check the time, 10:12 pm. You heard the strum of an electric guitar. Ok, maybe you’d stay for one more. Looking up you almost fell out of your chair. Of all possible persons, there standing in front of the mic… was Rus! You felt your chest squeeze, you had no idea that he sang. You forgot about everything else and just sat there staring and listening.

  
  


_ Night falls and I'm alone _

_ Skin, yeah, chilled me to the bone _

_ You turned and you ran, oh yeah _

_ Oh oh, slipped right from my hand _

  
  


He had a rich baritone voice that was slightly raspy. Once again his voice sent shivers down your spine.

  
  


_ Yeah! _

_ Blue on black _

_ Tears on a river _

_ Push on a shove _

_ It don't mean much _

_ Joker on jack _

_ Match on a fire _

_ Cold on ice _

_ A dead man's touch _

_ Whisper on a scream _

_ Never change a thing _

_ Doesn't bring you back _

_ It's like blue on black _

  
  


You watched as his fingers deftly kept up with each note of the song. 

  
  


_ Blind, oh, but now I see _

_ Truth, lies and in between _

_ Wrong can't be undone, oh no _

_ Well it slipped from the tip of your tongue _

 

_ Yeah _

_ Blue on black _

_ Tears on a river  _

_ Push on a shove _

_ It don't mean much _

_ Joker on jack _

_ Match on a fire _

_ Cold on ice _

_ A dead man's touch _

_ Whisper on a scream _

_ Never change a thing _

_ Doesn't bring you back _

_ It's blue on black _

  
  


The world had completely faded away, there were only two people in the room. You staring at him and him staring back at you. Was this his way of apologizing? You couldn’t form a complete thought.

  
  


_ Blue on black _

_ Tears on a river _

_ Push on a shove _

_ It don't mean much _

  
  


A natural pause in the song… you were holding your breath.

  
  


_ Blue on black _

_ Tears on a river _

_ Push on a shove _

_ It don't mean much _

_ Joker on jack _

_ Match on a fire _

_ Cold on ice _

_ A dead man's touch _

_ Whisper on a scream _

_ Never change a thing _

_ Doesn't bring you back _

_ It's blue on black _

 

_ Yeah, blue on black _

_ Yeah, it's blue on black _

_ Yeah, blue on black _

  
  


You could breathe again. 

 

“Helloooooooo? Earth to Y/N? Is that your skeleton?”

 

“Hmm? WHat?”

 

You squeaked out a feeble response to Jace’s prodding.

 

“Girl, you were staring with this look of absolute infatuation.”

 

“Was I?”

 

Jace rolled his eyes. Anna patted you on your shoulder. Sike just gave you a half-grin. Shit, you needed a moment. You got up from your chair and headed straight to the bathroom. Locking the door behind you, you stood in front of the mirror staring at your own red reflection staring back at yours.

 

Holy crap…

 

If that was an apology, it sure was a hell of an apology! You needed to talk to him, like… right now. You splashed a little water on your face, making sure you didn’t look like you had been crying, then stood up tall and walked back out to find Rus. However, you didn’t get very far. 

 

The host… Lola Lavish, the reigning crowned queen of the Hub was up on stage, caught sight of you and called out via the mic.

 

“Well, well, well! Don’t we have a treat here tonight! If it isn’t our regular songbird, Y/N, deary, are you here to bring us all to tears again. Oh, please dear, won’t you sing us something.”

 

You tried to refuse.

 

“Oh, I’m just here to wa-”

 

But your were interrupted by applause and Lola came over and linked her arm in yours pulling you out onto the floor. No! You needed to talk to Rus. If anything he had probably left by now. You looked out and scanned the crowd. You didn’t see him. You sunk a little. Well, might as well get this over with, then you could head home.

 

“What do you have in mind for tonight?”

 

You thought for a second. Then flipped through some of the loose leaves hanging around the piano.

 

“How ‘bout this one?”

 

“Ooooo, splendid. Let me get set up!”

 

You awkwardly stood under the spotlights. Fidgeting with your hands and trying not to make eye contact with anyone now hidden outside the wall of bright light. The music started up, slow and somber, you continued to stare at the floor.

  
  


_ Will the faithful be rewarded _

_ When we come to the end _

_ Will I miss the final warning _

_ From the lie that I have lived _

_ Is there anybody calling _

_ I can see the soul within _

_ And I am not worthy _

_ I am not worthy of this _

  
  


Everything around you was quiet and you could feel eyes staring at you.

  
  


_ Are you with me after all? _

_ Why can't I hear you? _

_ Are you with me through it all? _

_ Then why can't I feel you? _

_ Stay with me, don't let me go _

_ Because there's nothing left at all _

_ Stay with me, don't let me go _

_ Until the ashes of Eden fall _

  
  


You chanced a glance up. Out of the darkness just outside the ring of light, you just barely saw it, a single white light. An eye-light. You focused directly on it.

  
  


_ Will the darkness fall upon me _

_ When the air is growing thin? _

_ Will the light begin to pull me _

_ To its everlasting will? _

_ I can hear the voices haunting _

_ There is nothing left to fear _

_ And I am still calling _

_ I am still calling to you _

 

_ Are you with me after all? _

_ Why can't I hear you? _

_ Are you with me through it all? _

_ Then why can't I feel you? _

_ Stay with me, don't let me go _

_ Because there's nothing left at all _

_ Stay with me, don't let me go _

_ Until the Ashes of Eden fall _

  
  


Your voice grew stronger and stronger as you held your hands out, begging, pleading with the lyrics.

  
  


_ Why can't I hear you? _

_ Stay with me, don't let me go _

_ Because there's nothing left at all _

_ Stay with me, don't let me go _

_ Until the Ashes of Eden fall _

_ Heaven above me, take my hand _

_ Shine until there's nothing left but you _

_ Heaven above me, take my hand _

_ Shine until there's nothing left but you _

 

You were breathing heavy as you gave a small nodding bow to the clapping crowd. You looked up and the eye-light was gone. You quickly slipped away, off to the side and went over to your table.

 

“Welp, I think that’s me done for the night, guys. I’ll see you all later. Night.”

 

“Ok, then night.”

 

You received a chorus of goodbyes from your coworkers as you quickly grabbed your things and hurriedly rushed out the door. The cooler night air felt good on your face. You let out a sigh and headed towards your car. Maybe you could try and find Rus when you got back? You reached into your bag, fishing for your keys as you approached your car. Once you found them you looked up to see that someone was leaning up against it.

 

“Rus?”

 

“hey, kitten.”

 

Suddenly the night didn’t feel so cool anymore.

 

He pushed off of the car and approached you but stopped at a reasonable distance from you. You couldn’t help but stare at his face. After all of the information you had just learned, it was easy enough to spot the similarities and the differences. It made you wonder why he wore the bandage patch over his eye. He coughed and shuffled a bit, with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

 

“so… are.. are uh, we talking to each other again?”

 

You started slightly, he sounded so timid. Without thinking you reached a hand out and grasped at the sleeve of his sweatshirt.

 

“Of course! Listen, thank you for respecting my request. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

 

He gave you a grin, then reached out hesitantly and brushed a strand of hair back behind your ear.

 

“anything for you, kitten.”

 

You reached up and looped your fingers between his much bigger ones.

 

“You want a ride home?”

“sounds great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cannoli! Over 5000 hits and over 100 bookmarks, guys!!! Y'all are seriously the best. I thought this would just be my own little story that maybe a couple of people would check out, but honestly, this is pretty cool, thank you!
> 
> Anyhooo, this chapter was one of my favorites to write and has some of my favorite songs. Ivan Moody is basically the closest headcannon I have to Rus's singing voice. Hope you all enjoy and I'll be back next week with chapter 15!


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